Twilight Town Boys
by Nightmare-chan22
Summary: Sora just moved to Twilight Town. Riku is the bad boy of the town, and he doesn't treat new people like Sora nicely... RS, AR
1. The new kid

This is my first Kingdom Hearts fanfic, so please be gentle. I just beat Kingdom Hearts 2, and was just a little disappointed… but it was still worth playing. I loved Axel and Roxas, so there will be plenty of those two in this story.

Rating: PG-13 for language, suggestive themes later, and more…

Pairings: Riku and Sora, Axel and Roxas – it has to happen-, and other pairings later.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE: The new kid

* * *

Green-blue eyes hatefully glared down on a pair of sapphire colored eyes.

It looked like a scene from sort of duel-movie.

A silver haired teen stood, a blue club-like weapon pointed at a younger teen's chest. You could tell the silver haired teen was beyond furious as blue sea salt ice cream stained his white t-shirt, barely missing his unzipped yellow jacket. From his tall height, you wouldn't be able to tell he was angry under those thick, overly long silver locks. But if you were sitting on the ground like the younger teen, you could see he had a murderous gleam in those eyes.

The younger teen in return looked completely terrified. Just by looking at the taller guy, you could tell he was deadly! His sapphire eyes held a nervous look, along with the curvy-frown on his slightly tan face.

"Say you're sorry before I kick your ass." Riku demanded, a vicious smirk appearing under those silver locks.

Gulping, Sora stared up at him. How did he get into this situation again?

* * *

Before the fight…

Sora swore he was going to hurl. Every time the car jerked, his stomach would make a slight gurgle. Of course, it wasn't the good kind of gurgle.

His stomach was warning him that if he didn't get out of the car soon, he was going to get sick in the back seat.

"Quit making noises back there, they aren't pleasant to hear." A deep, smooth voice snapped in the driver's seat. Sora's sapphire eyes darted to the rear-view mirror to see his older brother glaring at him with equally beautiful eyes.

"Are we almost there, Cloud?" Cloud held not a trace of emotion on his face as he glanced back up at the rear-view mirror.

"Yep." Was all he said. But then again, Cloud rarely talked at all, even to his younger brother.

"Twilight Town… sounds like a stupid name for a town…" Sora grumbled, recalling the new place where they were moving to.

Cloud had suggested living in an actual town where it was small enough for everyone to get to know one another, but not too small where no adventure could be found. And if Cloud liked it, Sora would too. And if not, he would soon.

Then again, Sora actually liked his old home, Destiny Islands. It was nice and always peaceful. The only fights that ever occurred on that island were with him and Cloud… but to Cloud, it felt like a prison with ocean as it's cold metal bars.

"We're here." Cloud finally spoke up. Curiously, Sora looked outside his car window.

The second he saw the town, his eyes seemed to light up at what he saw. An orange sunset painted across the sky, shading the town in various shades of orange as well. A gigantic clock tower. Maybe it was the two large bells on each side that caught him as a little… odd. Back at Destiny Islands, there was nothing really special to attract people. Maybe a papou fruit tree, but that was it. No giant buildings, no giant clock towers…

This new town made Sora's true home feel small and insignificant…

"Look's like the moving truck isn't here yet…" Cloud turned to look over his shoulder to speak with Sora, but he kept on driving.

As Cloud began to talk to Sora, he never caught on to Sora's nervous expression. Shouldn't he have kept his eyes on the road!

"That means we've got some time to kill. You can go explore the town as long as you get back to our-"Before Cloud could finish his instructions for Sora… a large 'thunk!' came from the front of the car.

And that 'thunk' only came when you either hit something or if something ran into your car.

Cloud literally stomped on the break. Sora felt vomit travel up his throat, and if he hadn't covered his mouth the back of Cloud's seat would have been covered in it. The blonde waited for his car to stop before looking in the rear view mirror.

"Shit…!" He hissed under his breath, making it obvious that they had hit something. Unbuckling himself, Sora got out of the car dizzily. He mentally began thanking whatever they had hit. At least it gave him a chance to get out and get some fresh air…

A white skateboard slowly rolled into his shoe. Sora frowned to himself as he looked at the blue-flame like designs on it. What sort of animal would get hit riding a skateboard…?

Maybe that's when Sora came back to reality. They hadn't hit an animal. They had hit a human!

"Oh god…! My back!" A pained voice came from where the skateboard had rolled from. Sora looked up to see a boy with extremely pointed – almost as bad as his- dirty blonde hair on his stomach, moaning into the cement.

"A-Are you ok!" Sora asked, scrambling his way to the blonde haired kid. The closer he got to him, Sora noted that the kid was about his age, 15.

"Don't worry…" The skateboarder rolled onto his back with a hiss, opening his sparkling blue eyes up to look at who was concerned for him. "It's not the first time I've been hit… while skateboarding…" Sora couldn't help but cock his head to the side.

This kid was almost as weird as he was!

"Walk it off. You're a man." Cloud grumbled, walking into view. Sora could hardly contain his glare to his older brother. "You live around here?"

"D-Down the street… in the big white house…" Frowning, Cloud glanced down the street at what he had thought was a white house. But the sunset had painted every house in various shades of orange.

"Looks like we're neighbors. What's your name?" Sora asked, catching sight of what looked like a white house near theirs.

"Roxas… so you're the new people…" As he sat up, Sora flinched to hear a sickening pop from Roxas' back. "I should show you around. Twilight Town is huge. Unless you got a trained tour guide like me, you'll get lost-"

"Then show Sora around while we wait for the moving truck." Cloud said. It sounded more like a command then a polite question. Blinking, Roxas got back to his feet – but not without making another sickening pop from his back- and smiled at Sora.

"Fine by me. I can show you to my best friend…" Roxas said, waving for Sora to follow him. At first Sora was a bit hesitant, but after a nudge from Cloud and another friendly smile from Roxas, he began following his look-a-like friend.

"What's your best friend like?" Sora asked, trying to start conversation. Roxas rolled his eyes at picturing who his best friend was.

"He's pretty cool once you get past his obsession with fire." Roxas chuckled. He never saw Sora stop in his footsteps, a horrified expression on his face. If his best friend was obsessed with fire, who knew what Roxas could scare you with! "So what about you? Got any friends?" Roxas asked.

Starting up his walk again, Sora shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his giant black shorts. "I used to have a friend back at Destiny Islands. Her name was Kairi." Sora said.

Roxas gave off a wolf whistle, giving Sora a semi-hard nudge to his ribs.

"A girlfriend, right?" Roxas asked, grinning from ear to ear deviously.

Now, Sora wasn't dumb. He was just dense.

"Of course. She was a girl… and my friend…" Sora said, his matching sapphire colored eyes eyeing Roxas in a strange way. Why was he grinning like that?

"_Right_…" Roxas said slowly. Sora shook his head so his brown spikes slightly shook from side to side. "There are plenty of girls around here. I don't have a girlfriend though, they're… too moody…"

Sora wasn't paying too much attention to Roxas' rants, more like looking around at the various shops lining the streets. Weapons, flowers, you name it. Chances are, there was a shop selling it.

"Want some sea salt ice cream?" Roxas said, finally managing to catch Sora's attention. If there was anything interesting to Sora, it was ice cream. "Twilight Town is famous for selling it. Call it our signature item here."

"Sea salt? That doesn't sound very tasty…" Sora said, punctuating it with a digusted face. But when Roxas came back with two bright blue popsicles, Sora was eager to try it. There was no way those blueberry-looking flavored popsicles could taste like sea salt…

Roxas cracked into laughter at seeing Sora stick his tongue out in shock. It tasted bitter, like actual sea salt!

"If you don't want it, throw it away." Roxas said with a shrug. The ice cream tasted so bad that Sora didn't feel any regret for wasting Roxas' money in throwing it away.

The only problem was… where was a trash can?

"Where's a trash can?" Sora asked. Roxas also began looking around for some place to leave the blue ice cream in. However, a groan escaped him when he realized where a trash can was…

"The closest one is in Sandlot…" He growled. Just by hearing the tone of voice he used made Sora feel nervous.

"W-What's so bad about that place?" Sora asked.

"Sandlot is where all the cool kids are. If we went in there, we'd be beaten, robbed and probably laughed at." Roxas said, never spotting Sora's shocked expression. There was no way there were kids like that! They wouldn't pick a fight with him just because he wanted to throw away ice cream!

"Come on, Roxas… they can't be that bad…" Sora said, walking down the yellow cobblestone toward Sandlot.

"Sora! You don't get it!" Roxas called, but it was no use. Sora would never listen to him… "Those people hate my guts…"

* * *

SANDLOT

Looking around, Sora cocked his head to the side.

It was bare, with only 4 kids to be seen. An extremely tan man built like a bodybuilder. Sora was starting to get a little jumpy already at just seeing him…

The only girl had strange silver hair combed so it could cover her left eye.

And then there were two guys who caught Sora's attention the most. While the tanner man with the long gray coat looked like he was the leader… the other guy looked more like he was more in charge.

Sora blushed slightly.

He was… pretty handsome. Hell, Sora was almost envious of that long silk-like silver hair. Not many guys could look good with hair like that… and his clothes covered in zippers seemed to work better then the other's fashion sense. And he only looked a year older then him…

Then Sora saw it. A couple feet away from the young man with silver hair was a black trash can…

"They shouldn't get mad if I throw the popsicle away…" Sora whispered to himself, coolly sauntering toward the trash can.

No one was paying him any attention so far… until…

"Pest." The silver haired girl emotionlessly said, pointing at him. Immediately, the tan bodybuilder with 'RAJIN' written on his shirt gasped.

"I bet it's Roxas, ya know!" He cried, glaring right at Sora. At hearing the blonde haired kid's name, the other two males turned around.

Freezing in mid step, Sora grinned wildly at them. Did they mistake him for Roxas?

"That can't be Roxas. Roxas' hair isn't that lame!" The rapster-poser laughed, walking toward Sora, his gray coat bellowing behind him. "Riku, should we beat him up?"

"Seifer, violence doesn't come until after we find out what they're doing here." Riku, the silver haired boy, said, a smirk crossing his handsome face. Sora's eyes grew enormous. Roxas was right! They were going to beat him up!

"Now wait a second!" Sora snapped, shocking all 4 of them. Even Riku seemed startled… "I came here to throw away this popsicle! I don't want a fight!" Sora said.

"No one raises their voice at us…" Seifer warningly growled, stretching his arms out like a giant bear to scare Sora. And it worked.

Every time Seifer took a step forward, Sora found himself taking a step back.

"I just need to use the trash can…" A plan formed in Sora's head. If he threw the posicle into the trash and took off, they would have no reason to attack him, right? And he wouldn't have a melting ice cream in his hands… "I'll be off in a second! I swear!" Sora chucked the popsicle over Seifer, hopping it would land in the trash can.

Then again, Sora never was good at throwing things…

SPLAT!

Rajin and Seifer gasped. Fujin waved an arm, and cried out a word that made Sora realize his world was about to crumble.

"Mess!" Looking past Seifer, Sora bit his lip.

Riku stood, staring wide eyed at his white shirt… with sea salt ice cream splattered all over it. And judging by the contrast of colors, it wasn't going to come out…

Those once sexy teal eyes that Sora thought were nice… became filled with anger. Holding his arm out, a wicked smirk came to his face.

"Rajin, my club." A blue bat was tossed to him, and without even glancing, Riku caught it with ease. "Seifer, move. _No one_ stains my favorite shirt and gets away with it…" Immediately, Seifer began side stepping away from Sora.

And maybe it was Sora's imagination… but he could have sworn he saw Seifer mouth 'You are dead, bitch'.

Sora tried to turn and run away… but he slipped and sat on the ground, completely defenseless unless he kicked out at the approaching Riku. But when you were that scared of some handsome man with a blue bat, would you have been smart enough to fight back.

The bat was placed at his chest, invisibly making an 'X' where to hit him.

"Say you're sorry before I kick your ass." Riku demanded, a vicious smirk appearing under those silver locks.

Gulping, Sora stared up at him… for once in his life, he wished his brother was here to help him out…

"Sorry…?" Sora squeaked out, sounding like a frightened mouse. A satisfied smirk crossed Riku's handsome features. He was going to enjoy beating this new kid up…

"Hold it right there!" Another Popsicle whizzed past his shirt, making Riku take a graceful leap back from Sora. Both sapphire and teal eyes looked over… to see Roxas standing, shaking ever so slightly.

"Roxas!" Sora cheered while Riku grumbled.

"Pest!" Fujin snapped. Seifer grabbed his own club, aching to start a fight with his rival.

"Seifer, beat him to a pulp!" Riku barked, turning his attention back to Sora. Sora didn't even catch sight of his turn, he was too busy at staring at Roxas.

Why did it seem like they were angrier with Roxas then him?

Roxas took a step back, thinking of something to fight back with. Now that he had thrown the sea salt ice cream, he wasn't too sure what else he could use for a weapon…

A sudden black glove squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, making Roxas jump.

"I'll take it from here…" A voice chuckled, followed by someone cloaked in black stepping in front of Roxas.

At seeing who it was, Seifer froze in motion while Rajin called out to Riku.

"It's Axel, Riku!" Rajin shouted. Gasping, Riku turned to see the true monster of Twilight Town…

As Sora's blue eyes took in the red head… he couldn't stop spotting Roxas' slight blush. Who was now getting involved!

"Mess with Roxas or the Roxas-wanabe…" Reaching into coat, Axel pulled out pinwheels with sharp metal spikes on the side. "And you fight me. Got it memorized?"

Gulping again, Sora looked around. Rajin and Fujin were hopping back to back for combat. Seifer nervously looked ready to take on Axel… Axel had some sort of psycho grin on his face as he stood in front of the now courageous Roxas… and Riku was giving him a smirk that said 'You are mine to kill' all over it.

This was not going to be pretty…

* * *

What did you think? The chapter will have more Sora and Riku, trust me. And cute Axel and Roxas moments.

VOTE THIS CHAPTER: If Cloud should be paired up, who should he be with? Leon? Aerith? Cid –lol, jk-

Please give me some suggestions for some Sora and Riku romance. Please, no flames or 'improve this' rants.

Ignore any spelling errors, it's late and I'm too lazy to edit it…


	2. You smell good

Thanks for your reviews everyone. Got all sorts of ideas – sorry about the chakrams, someone told me they were pinwheels and I became super confused, but this still gives me a funny idea.- with your help. Truthfully, I was praying you guys would say Leon for Cloud. It works either way.

Disclaimer: - Forgot one last time – I do not own Kingdom Hearts 2, it's characters, or it's worlds.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please don't get angry if Roxas and Axel become a little out of character. Axel's role is to play the protective – and insanely crazy- friend to Roxas, if not more if you read the right hints. Roxas… I think he needs to loosen and have a little more fun. Sorry, I'm just experimenting with them…

* * *

CHAPTER TWO: You smell good

* * *

"Axel, we don't want any trouble from you, ya know!" Rajin tried to defend his group. But this only made the grin on Axel's face grow wider and wider with every passing fearful word.

"If you don't want any trouble… just hand the kid over before I set one of you on fire." Axel ordered, in a casual 'Not that big of a deal' tone.

Sora's eyes widened in realization. Axel was the pyromaniac… who was Roxas' best friend… that meant a pyromaniac was going to be his hero!

"Um… I think I can handle them by myself…" Sora tried to whisper to Axel. Truth be told, Sora didn't know exactly how to defend himself, much less rescue himself. But it was better then almost being set on fire in the process of his rescue.

"Rajin! Fujin! Take care of Roxas! Seifer, Axel is all yours!" Riku commanded. Seifer smirked almost as dangerously as Riku as he began coolly walking toward Axel. No matter how evil Seifer looked, Axel's grin refused to fall.

"You think you can handle them?" Roxas whispered, watching Rajin and Fujin step toward him. Axel leaned down toward his ear, emerald eyes glowing mischievously.

"I can handle _all_ of them on if you want me to." Axel said, eyeing the Sandlot Gang. A nudge from Roxas made him frown.

"Don't get cocky. If you beat Seifer, go for the one with silver hair." Roxas ordered with his bright blue eyes locked onto Riku. Unfortunately… Axel was looking over at Fujin. Roxas was actually asking him for help! Axel's grin widened at the thought.

Roxas knew something was wrong when he noted Axel grinning at him in a 'You're so cute' way. But he didn't have anytime to question his best friend… especially when Rajin took a jump at him.

Roxas!" Sora called, watching his new fried be tackled to the ground. His attention was then drawn to the pale colored hand now grabbing onto the collar of his black sweat jacket, pulling him to his feet.

"Worry about yourself more." Riku snapped. Sora held his hands up in defense, closing his eyes tightly as Riku raised the blue club.

_"This is a Cloud moment…" _Sora thought, picturing his brother's serious face in his head. _"What would Cloud do or say…!"_

* * *

_"If you ever get caught in a fight without a weapon, use your wits." Cloud said, sitting on the edge of the pale brown sand of Destiny Islands. A younger Sora played at the edge of the water, making two toy boats ram into each other violently. He even added terrible sound affects_

_At seeing his younger brother… Cloud suddenly held a disappointed look. What wits? Sora was never the brightest person…_

_"S-Scratch that Sora." Confused, Sora looked over his shoulder to see Cloud walking toward him. "If you ever get in that situation… say something to shock the person. That'll give you enough time to either knock the weapon away or to run. Got it?"_

_Instead of nodding, Sora turned back to his boats and made them crash some more._

* * *

_"That's it!"_ Sora thought, instantly knowing what to say that would throw Riku off his feet. Opening his eyes… Sora squeaked to see the blue club getting ready to land on top of his head hard… "You smell good!" He all but shouted, closing his eyes tightly again.

The hit never came.

Opening one eye… then the other… Sora frowned at Riku. The older teen's face was priceless, really. Teal eyes wide as ever while his mouth hung open slightly. For a cool guy like Riku, this must've been a once in a life time experience.

"E-Excuse me?" Riku questioned, his voice a little high pitched as he spoke. Maybe Sora hadn't spoken his words right, Riku was just imagining … "What the hell did you just say!"

"You smell like…" Sora suddenly went into panic. He couldn't smell Riku… except for the sea salt ice cream… but Riku would have only gotten angrier if Sora pointed out his mistake again. "You smell like…" Something to shock him…

Riku felt a tinge of anxiousness jolt through him as Sora's gorgeous blue eyes lit up, like a replacement for his light bulb.

"You smell like vanilla. Not a girly vanilla, but a nice, manly… vanilla?" Sora started out bold but his question began becoming shaky as he confused himself. Out of complete shock, Riku dropped Sora.

"Riku!" Seifer called, snapping Riku out of his daze. As the rapster-wanabe opened his mouth to ask what was wrong… but not before ducking as a chakram whizzed by his head, threatening to steal his favorite hat.

"Eyes on me, punk." Axel laughed, green eyes burning with the desire to kill. And there was no doubt in Seifer's mind that he would have killed him. But if Roxas was around, Seifer was safe. Axel could never kill anyone in front of Roxas.

Just as Riku turned back to his opponent… a giant yellow boot shot up to his club…

The blue bat went flying. Sora was leaning against his hands, his leg falling back to the ground. It was a desperate kick, but at least it worked.

"Ha!" Sora laughed. Riku's piercing teal eyes quickly glared at him. "What are you gonna do now?" He asked his eyes twinkling as a goofy grin came to his face.

For some reason, that goofy grin struck as much irritation up from Riku as his mocking smirk to Sora.

"This." He coolly answered, taking a charge at Sora. Sora's jaw dropped; he obviously hadn't expected that.

BAM!

The sky greeted Sora's view followed by Riku's face. His silver hair tickled Sora's lips… and Sora couldn't avoid getting a sniff at his shampoo.

Shockingly enough, he did smell like vanilla.

"Just because I don't have a weapon doesn't mean I still can't fight!" Riku said. Shortly after he spoke, his fist met harshly against Sora's right cheek, then another to the left.

"K-Knock… it off…" Sora mumbled through blows, getting a fistful of silver hair and tugging it as hard as he could.

And the two kept fighting. Riku grunting at feeling his hair being tugged at and Sora whimpering as his cheeks turned a new shade of red with each punch.

* * *

Roxas made all sorts of grunts as he began beating at Rajin's knees.

"I wonder if he's got anything in his pants, ya know?" Rajin laughed, holding the smaller male upside down by the ankles. Roxas' face was turning beat red as his blonde haired brushed the cobblestone like a broom.

"That's for me to find out! Got it memorized!" Axel shouted, getting ready to toss a chakram at Rajin if he pulled anything dirty on Roxas. His attention was quickly twirled back to Seifer when the blue club hit his head, making a plastic sound. Almost like a toy bat you played with when you were younger to hit a baseball with. "I think I liked it better when they were afraid of me…" He grumbled, turning to Seifer.

"Eyes on me, lamer." Seifer mocked, getting in some sort of fencing stance with his blue bat. Axel couldn't help but raise a short trimmed red eyebrow. What a dork…

To Roxas' horror, munny began dropping out of his pockets and making a quiet ring as it struck the yellow cobblestone.

"No! I was saving that for Sea salt ice cream!" He cried, making desperate reaches to grab it. But Fujin's pale hands quickly began collecting the munny into her other arm. "H-Hey! Thieves!" Roxas cried, swiping at her funny silver haired. If he got a hold of her, he would have ripped so much of her hair that you would've been able to see both of her eyes.

But as she stepped back to let Roxas fall painfully to the ground… something bounced over to where his hand was reaching.

A blue club – hell, the club of hope at this point- was under him. Tilting his head back slightly, Roxas was able to see Axel throwing down Seifer and stomping on his back… but Seifer still had his blue bat. Then that could only mean…

"Sor-"Was all Roxas could get out before the yellow cobblestone came up to lick his chin. All he heard in his rocking world was Rajin's deep laugh…

And personally, it annoyed the hell out of him.

Gripping the blue bat, Roxas turned and sent a powerful plastic-toy blow at Rajin's right knee. Instantly, he went down holding his knee. Fujin looked surprised as Roxas sent her a glare. "Either you give me back my munny… or else…" Once again, Roxas couldn't finish what he was saying. But it wasn't Rajin's fault this time.

"No worries, Roxas! I got her taken care of!" A whirl of black and red flung itself in front of Roxas. Fujin only had time to let her crimson shaded eye widen ever so slightly… before a black boot collided into her chest. The wind got knocked out of her… and Fujin silently found herself lying on the ground, eye set on the sky.

Axel's face peered over hers, that crazy grin taking up nearly half his face. "What do you have to say about that?" He laughed.

"… Pain…" She half growled, half whimpered. And yet, she still managed to keep her straight face as she spoke. A pleased grin graced his features until Roxas came over.

"What the hell are you doing! I told you to get Riku!" He yelled, glaring angrily at Axel. Axel held a blank face… until he quietly looked over to see another _silver haired person_ rolling on the ground, punching Sora senselessly.

And it all became clear for Axel.

"I thought you meant her." Axel simply said, pointing to the stunned Fujin. Frustration kicked in and Roxas could only hold his head to calm himself down. How could Axel _not_ have noted who he was looking at!

"Red headed idiot!" Roxas sighed, turning to help his new friend. A black glove squeezed his shoulder though, forcing him back. "D-Don't hold me back, Axel! I can take him!" He bellowed, watching red bellow in front of him.

He didn't realize it wasn't Axel who had pulled him back until… Axel caught him from falling, frowning confused at the new guy who had stepped in.

"I'm not holding you back…" He whispered in Roxas' ear. When Roxas' eyes caught sight of the pointed blonde spikes on top of the newcomer's head… he got a clear idea on who was helping Sora. "Who's that?" Axel questioned, now giving Cloud a funny look after spotting his hair. It was almost as bad as his!

"Cloud… Sora's older brother…"

* * *

"This is for my shirt! And this is for pulling my hair!" Riku bellowed, sending more punches to Sora's face. With each punch, he managed to make up something else Sora deserved a hit for.

A boot collided into the silver haired teen's side, enough power to kick him right off Sora.

"That's for messing with my younger brother…" In Riku's ears, the smooth voice belonged to who he thought was Satan. Those piercing blue eyes that didn't even look related to Sora's in anyway. A red cape picked up in the wind, giving Cloud a more dangerous killer look.

Now, Riku had always hated picking fights with people he knew were stronger then him. But if he asked nicely…

"My older brother could whoop your ass in seconds, Blondie." Riku said boldly, getting up and brushing dust and bits of sea salt ice cream off his yellow vest. Cloud quirked a thin blonde eyebrow. At that second, Seifer, Rajin and a stumbling Fujin got behind Riku. "Ever heard of the name Leon? He'll rip the spikes right off your head."

As much as Riku hated turning to his older brother like this, he had to. Better to be smart and back down then to rush in blind.

To his shock… Cloud gave him what he thought might have been a half-smirk.

"Tell him I'll be waiting here tonight at midnight for him. Bring a weapon… I won't bring mine because either way I can kick his ass before he can…" Cloud paused to let his half smirk become a whole smirk. "…Rip the spikes right off my head."

Sora yelped when Cloud grabbed him by the back of his black jacket, lifting him up to his feet.

"Sora, you get to unload twice as many boxes for this." Cloud mumbled, loud enough for Sora to hear. Sora held a defeated look, shaking his head so his brown spikes swayed gently. Casting a glance over his shoulder… Sora caught sight of that stupid smirk.

Riku's teal eyes danced to Sora's blue eyes… and to the brunette's horror, the platinum blonde mouthed 'Sora'. Great! Now he knew his name!

Sora gulped, quickly following Cloud's long strides. Roxas did the same when Sora's older brother sent him a glare from the corner of his eyes.

"Roadkill, move it. You're helping unpack." Cloud simply said, tired of talking to the annoying teens all ready. Roxas glared at him, a cute pout on his face.

"That's Roxas!" He corrected, walking after Sora and Cloud.

"They both start with 'R', so get over it." Roxas shook his head at Cloud's response. He waved his arm, signaling his best friend to follow.

"Hey boys!" Seifer and Riku immediately looked up to be greeted by devious emerald eyes. Axel snapped his fingers… a lighter sliding out of sleeve and into his hand. In a simple click, it was lit. "Mess with Roxas again sometime… I dare you!" He gave them a crazy grin, snapping the lighter shut.

Except for the silver haired teens… the rest of the Sandlot gang couldn't help but look even a little bit nervous.

"Riku… are you seriously going to tell your bro about this?" Seifer asked, crossing his arms over his perfectly carved chest. Riku smirked at him, almost as horrid as the one he had given Sora.

"Of course. I'm not through with Mr. Spikes… or Sora." Riku chuckled, allowing the criminal's name to roll on his tongue. A sudden frown crossed his face when he took a good look at Seifer.

Feeling uncomfortable under those green-blue eyes, Seifer narrowed his eyes. "What's your problem, Riku?" Riku made a gesture to his hair, eyes growing wide at the sight.

"Hat!" Fujin chirped, earning a nod from Rajin. Slowly… Seifer felt the top of his head. All that could be felt… were blonde locks of hat hair. His eyes grew as huge as dinner plates as he clenched his hair.

His favorite hat was gone… !

* * *

Roxas flinched when something covered his eyes, it felt like soft fleece.

"Check it out. Seifer's hat." Axel murmured in his ear, his hot breath tickling the earlobe. Instantly, Roxas grabbed the hat, tearing it off his head like a vampire with a cross. Axel broke into laughter as Roxas shoved the hat back into his hands.

"I don't want to get head lice!" Roxas hissed, glaring straight into Axel's eyes.

"Tonight, we burn it to celebrate our victory over the Sandlot gang. That make you feel better?" Axel laughed, sticking his finger into the hat and managing to spin it a little.

"What are you, some sort of pyromaniac?" Cloud's voice questioned. That usual grin fell onto Axel's face.

"How ever did you guess?" Axel asked. Cloud turned to glare at Sora, one of those 'Nice new friends you got…' looks. His eyes seemed to soften ever so softly when he noticed Sora slowly walking forward, eyes glued to the street.

"Sora, cheer up." Cloud ordered, catching Sora's eyes as he looked up at him. Sora tried his best to give him that silly grin he gave to everyone.

"Just thinking…" He admitted quietly, trying to a start a conversation with his brother only. But he didn't need to worry, Axel was taunting Roxas with Seifer's hat behind them. However… Cloud's hand gently touched his arm, startling his little brother. Cloud _never_ touched _anyone_.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, holding an actual concerned expression on his face. Getting the joke, Sora made a childish face at him.

"Ha-ha… very funny…" Immediately, Cloud returned to normal.

"I try to lighten up the mood when I feel like talking." Cloud said, giving a shrug. Sora rolled his eyes, setting his hands behind his head casually.

"Thanks for coming to save me, bro. I really thought I was gonna be murdered…" Sora said, his cheeks lighting up slightly. Normal brothers never did this, but if Cloud hadn't come… well, Sora didn't want to think of that.

"Don't get me wrong. If we had all ready moved in, I probably would have left you to die. But someone has to help me unpack." Cloud said. As usual, he never spotted Sora stopping to stare at him horrified.

"E-Excuse me? That was a joke, right?" Sora stuttered, praying it was a sick joke. His brother turned to him, that all too serious expression on his face.

"What do you think?" Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow. Honestly, Sora wasn't too sure. With that face, who knew if he was joking or not.

"Are you really going to go fight that Leon guy? Riku sounded like he wasn't kidding." Sora warned, picking up his pace again. No emotion could be traced on his brother's peach face.

"Of course not, I said that to shut the kid up." Cloud admitted. Now, it wasn't that he was backing down from a fight. He just didn't want to stay up until midnight fighting what could have been a loser

Just as Sora got ready to talk more and warn him that Riku might do something to them, Roxas rammed back first into him.

"Get that thing away from me, Axel!" Axel couldn't stop laughing as Roxas squirmed to get away from Seifer's greasy hat.

* * *

MIDNIGHT, SANDLOT

It was dark by the time, but the sunset seemed to have only grown a bit darker. It was Twilight Town's way of knowing it was night time.

The town itself was bear, shops closed and house lights turned out for the 'night'. The sandlot was almost bear as well… except for Riku and someone else…

"Don't tell me you brought me out here for nothing, Riku…" He was 22 or so, Cloud's age, if not older. His long chestnut brown hair was layered like Riku's, but you were actually able to see most of his face. Really, he didn't look like Riku one bit. Riku took more from his mom's side, Leon from his dads.

"If he's not here within 2 minutes, I'll find Sora and kick his ass tomorrow." Riku said through gritted teeth. Leon looked just as disappointed, itching to fight the 'blonde bastard who beat me up and ruined my favorite t-shirt' in Riku's definition.

Minutes passed, and Leon gave up. The fight for now, declaring Cloud as a weak wimp.

"Blonde spikes… blue eyes…" Leon mumbled to himself, turning toward the direction of their house. No one besides Roxas met that definition, so he wouldn't be hard to track down.

"I'll find him tomorrow! Then you can fight him!" Riku protested. He hated looking bad in Leon's eyes; it made him feel like a liar. "He said here at midnight!"

"Whatever…" Leon growled, closing his eyes. Blonde spikes… blue eyes…

Tomorrow, he was going to find Cloud and see if he really was a wimp…

* * *

What did you think? Hopefully you reviewers keep reviewing. The more reviews, the faster this is posted.

Thanks for all the advice on Riku/Sora moments and who Cloud should get with. I hope you don't mind Cloud talking so much in this chapter. Unless Leon is around, this will become rare. Even though there weren't many Riku Sora moments due to the fight, I plan to have more next time since something will happen and Riku and Sora have to spend the day together… - Laughs-

DESCISION: Cloud will go for Leon, but Aerith will come for jealousy and tension. I don't know, jealousy is more fun to write about.

QUESTION: I'm just gonna randomly ask questions every now and then, I have a habit of doing this. Do you think Cloud looks better in Kingdom Hearts 1 or 2? I made him look like from 1 in this because I think this suites him more.

Please review!


	3. The perfect wake up call

For the Aerith and Cloud fans, I'm sorry. Aerith will still be in this story to fall for Cloud with NO TIFA. I like Tifa, but we can't have Cloud too stressed out in this story.

For those who hate Aerith: No, she will not be a bitch in this story. As much as I like bashing certain characters, I can not bash Aerith.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts 2, it's characters, or it's worlds.

More Axel and Roxas? You got it!

NOTE: Don't be angry for the morning Cloud. I don't know why, but that's how I always pictured Cloud in the morning, lol.

* * *

CHAPTER THREE: The perfect wake up call

* * *

Roxas swore he would have killed whoever the hell was throwing rocks at his window.

It was hardly even 9:00 in the morning. Roxas loved his sleep more then life. If someone woke him up instead of himself waking up on his own, they would have to face a cranky Roxas all day. Even his parents didn't wake him up at this unholy hour!

But none the less, someone began chucking small rocks at his window.

The first rock that was thrown, Roxas ignored it, scrunching his nose in his sleep as he rolled over in his bed. Not even a minute passed before the next rock was thrown, a much bigger one then the previous pebble-sized rock. It nearly made a crack in his window, startling Roxas to briefly open his eyes. When he saw no harm or danger in his window, he closed his eyes, rolling over so his back faced the window. A couple more minutes passed before the next large object was thrown… which wasn't a rock.

His window's bottom left square shattered, something rolling along his floor. Sleep powered over curiosity, and Roxas decided to deal with it when he felt like getting up.

That is, until smoke came to his nose.

"AXEL!" Roxas roared, nearly shaking the house. Rolling over with the speed of light, Roxas slipped on his shoes next to his bed side, staring wide eyed at what was on his floor. A bottle with newspaper stuffed in for a cork. Steadily eating its way through the newspaper was a rather large flame.

It was easy to stomp out, especially with the oozing anger Roxas held for his visitor. No, he did not look out the window yet. But who else would throw something _set on fire_ through people's windows this early in the morning!

As Roxas opened his window to poke his blonde head out, he wasn't surprised to see a pair of devilish emerald eyes staring up at him happily.

"Morning, my sleeping beauty." Axel said, placing a hand over his heart and raising a hand to Roxas poetically. And it looked like a scene from a romance movie, Roxas in his nightwear looking out his window from the second story of his house while his prince in black armor gestured to him lovingly. The only difference was no prince would look so evilly in love and no princess would look so… pissed off?

"I hope you drown!" Roxas yelled. Axel flinched. Sleeping bitchy more like it… And the thought of dying with water made Axel strangely uncomfortable.

"But you said we were gonna go show off Sora to the others at the Usual Spot." Axel exclaimed, crossing his arms over his black cloak that he always wore. Groggily groaning, Roxas rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of any guck that made him sleepier.

"There's no way my parents would let me go this early. I can't go through the front door." Roxas declined, leaning out the window with his elbows. Maybe it was the way Axel's eyes widened and how his grin brightened that made him realize he had made a mistake is mentioning no way out.

"If you jump, I'll catch you!" Axel said, holding his arms out so he could catch Roxas bridal style. The blonde haired kid's once half lidded eyes filled with sleep snapped awake. Another one of Axel's crazy ideas… "I promise I won't drop you."

Roxas began shaking slightly at the thought. How could Axel have forgotten he hated heights! "But I'm still in my nightwear!" Judging by Axel's grin, he didn't care. "I'm gonna go change my clothes… be right back…" Roxas said, giving Axel a suggestive wink. With that said, he turned to head back to his room. Like a dog, Axel's mood began rising rapidly as he anxiously swayed, his arms still wide out to catch Roxas in case he jumped without warning.

As his blonde angel popped his head out the window, he brought a surprise with him.

Axel bit his lip so he wouldn't yelp as a shower of ice cold water poured over him, soaking him to the bone. He looked up, his hair starting to flatten ever so slightly. Roxas smiled at him, dropping the tin bucket at Axel. It missed, but Axel was still upset.

"That's what you get for nearly burning my carpet." Roxas chuckled. The pyromaniac quietly began fixing the top of his spiky red hair, trying to get it back to normal. But his green eyes glowered with fury up at the blonde. "I'll come out the front door in a minute."

Axel made a dog growl to himself –he was rather good at sounding like a dog- as he fixed his hair. Not only was _cold water_ soaking his favorite coat, but Roxas wasn't in his arms…

* * *

Sora was up bright and early. He normally was like Roxas, loving to sleep in. But for some reason, he was up early.

"Can I have some toast?" He asked, grabbing some beard from the counter. Right now, the empty two story house was a mess. Boxes everywhere in the bare white rooms, bags of food stacked on the counter, and clothes in heaps on the floor.

"Can't. Toaster's not unpacked." Looking over the piled packages of bread, Sora was able to see a couple of blonde spikes talking to him.

"Cereal?"

"No milk."

With nothing to eat, Sora walked back to his room to start unpacking. Not like he could do anything. It was too early to wake Roxas up and all the fun in Sora's life was still in the boxes packed into the moving truck. But as he got into his room… Sora frowned.

His hated his room. It was big, but with snow-colored walls. White walls always did make him feel trapped. He wanted a lively color. A place to remind him of home… like his old room…

Goofily grinning to himself, Sora decided to do that. Today and tomorrow, he was going to paint his room! He was going to paint his room like a giant beach with a papou tree and everything. Best of all, Cloud had some paint packed, some island like colors and even more. He was all set except-

His goofy grin smudged off his face as the truth hit him in the back of the head like a heavy brick. With his pre-school art skills, there was no way he could paint a beach…

* * *

"So what's Sora's older brother like anyway?" Axel asked, stepping up the stone stairway to Sora's front door. Roxas was beside him, his hands tucked deep into his pockets.

"A tough guy. When he hit me with his car yesterday, he told me to get over it." Roxas explained, recalling Cloud's harsh words towards him. Axel's grin fell. So that's why Roxas' new nickname from Sora's older brother was road kill…

Just as they reached the door step Axel rang the doorbell. You could hear it echo loudly through the bare house. An annoying doorbell really, likes a bad cooking buzzer. Heavy footsteps could be heard approaching the door.

Sure enough, the terrible blonde driver opened the door, his serious face in place. Hell, he almost looked like the grumpy dwarf from Snow White… Axel grinned while Roxas waved friendly. Cloud rolled his eyes… and slammed the door in their face. A small breeze blew through Axel and Roxas' hair.

A few seconds passed before Roxas turned to Axel. "Did he just slam the door in our faces?" He almost spoke in an offensive tone.

"Guess so." Axel growled, his upper lip curling. "I should burn their house down…" A lighter slid out of Axel's left sleeve, slipping into his hand like a secret dagger.

"Don't Axel." Roxas sighed. Axel shrugged, sliding the lighter back into his sleeve for later use.

The curse of silence greeted the two as they searched for ideas to get Sora's attention without facing the yellow spiked monster-watch dog at the front door.

Roxas' eyes lit up as he got an idea. Quickly looking up at the second story, he looked for some sort of room that might've looked like Sora's room.

"Roxas?" Axel asked, watching Roxas dart to the side of the house in search of his brunette twin. After a good minute… the blonde came back, silently signaling for Axel to come over. Frowning, Axel did run over the side of the house, ducking under windows to avoid Cloud spotting the two.

Still remaining word-less, Roxas pointed up at the highest window. Axel's green eyes squinted. Sure enough, you could see brown spikes up through the window.

"Do your usual wake up call!" Roxas whispered. The once confused frown on Axel's face became a wide grin at the thought.

* * *

Sora was horrified to hear something break through his window. A bottle with newspaper set a blaze rolled on his floor, heading toward his foot.

"O-Oh god!" He screeched, stomping the flame out quickly.

"What's on fire up there?" Cloud's voice hollered from down stairs.

"N-Nothing!" Sora called back, walking toward the window. The hole was big enough for him to pop his head out and see who had broken his window and nearly set his room into flames.

Roxas and Axel made desperate waves with their arms, mutely telling him to get downstairs. Sora raised a brown eyebrow.

"Why not knock on the door? My brother shouldn't mind-" He stopped himself from talking when Axel held a nervous face and Roxas shook his head furiously. "Oh… I'll be down there in a second…"

* * *

Cloud yawned, walking out the door in nothing more then black denim jeans and a white tank top. He would get dressed when he felt like it. A cup of coffee was in his hands, trying to urge him awake. As early as he woke up, Cloud was cranky.

Taking a short sip, he walked over bare foot to the truck. His half opened blue eyes slowly began widening awake as he stared at the hundreds of boxes in the trucks. Sora would have moved out and he would have gotten married in the time it took to unpack all this…

"Next time I'll just throw out Sora's stuff…" He grumbled to himself. Cloud climbed in, setting his coffee cup on the side. When Cloud was alone by himself, he had a strange habit of wanting to show off his strength. "6 boxes shouldn't be too heavy…" 1, 2, 3… by the 5 box, Cloud was having a bit of trouble. He wasn't able to see ahead of himself.

He walked out of the truck, walking not in the direction of his house. Of course, Cloud didn't know this until he looked to the side of him and saw his house getting smaller and smaller…

Now, their house was built on a slopping hill. To go back up the yellow cobble stone barefoot with 6 boxes blocking your view might as well of been considered impossible. But that word didn't exist to Cloud, so he just went up hill.

Trouble began to stir all ready when he mistook his 3rd step.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it…!" He hissed, stepping backwards frantically, trying to collect his balance again. He kept going downhill, which wasn't the best.

"Watch out!" A voice harshly snapped, a hand grabbing his shoulders and helping him from falling. They were huge hands in Cloud's opinion, grasping one of his muscular shoulders in each hand. Glancing over his shoulder, Cloud frowned at spotting a pair of challenging midnight blue eyes, piercing his very being.

Once he got back to his feet, Cloud adjusted himself so he was looking to his side, at the newcomer.

Leon glared at him, one of those 'Idiot…' scowls. Cloud narrowed his eyes back, not grateful in any sort of way.

"You should be more careful with that many boxes. You could hurt yourself." Leon said, using two fingers to brush his brown bangs out of his face. His eyes widened ever so slightly at spotting the intense blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. Wasn't that…?

On the other hand, Cloud was furious with the brunette. _No one _helped him and told him to be careful. Especially from someone taller than him… Intimidated, Cloud turned without a word and took a couple of steps back toward the hill. Once again, his 3rd step didn't land correctly.

"I said be careful!" Leon gasped, grabbing Cloud and pushing him up the hill as a determined Cloud tried walking up them. "Don't you listen to people?"

"No." Cloud simply answered, taking a sharp turn at the top of the hill toward his house. Snatching two boxes from his stacked, Leon sighed.

"Stubborn asshole, aren't you?" Leon chuckled, following Cloud toward the house. Sora came out that second, taking a few steps down the stairway. He looked up to see Cloud fuming with anger, biting his lower lip as his blonde eyebrows were furrowed. Gulping, Sora leaned against the rail as close as he could so Cloud wouldn't kick him back inside.

Sora and Leon looked at one another. Sora gulped once more when he spotted the dangerous smirk on Leon's face. That smirk reminded him exactly of…

"Sora, help unpack. Pyro, road kill, you as well." Sora was brought out of his thoughts as Cloud ordered him to unpack and as Axel and Roxas came guilty-looking out of the bosses to the side of the house. Dropping his boxes, Cloud turned to glare at Leon. Leon toward over him purposely, trying to intimidate the blonde.

"Something wrong?" Leon asked, handing him the boxes.

"Thank you for helping me, now go home." Cloud coolly said, all childish anger vanishing as he also tried to intimidate Leon. Leon seemed unaffected.

"I was coming to greet you, sense I live somewhat near by. I also brought my younger brother to help you with your unpacking." Leon explained, crossing his arms over his chest. As Cloud glanced past his shoulder, he actually showed a slight bit a shock on his face. All he caught in those blue eyes were silver strands of hair, but it was a dead give away.

"S-Sora!" He called, before an arm roughly grabbed onto him. He was lifted off his feet, onto Leon's shoulder. Cloud never had been treated this way, and he wasn't going to let this cocky brunette treat him this way. "Son of a bitch! Put me down!" He pounded his fists and kicked like a little kid, occasionally trying to rip out some brown hair. A grunt of irritation came from Leon, but that was it.

"Let's go inside and have some coffee, Spikes."

* * *

Sora, wide eyed, clutched onto Roxas tighter. Roxas gulped at Sora clinging to his arm and Axel taking a step in front of him dramatically.

Riku raised an eyebrow as he picked up a box labeled 'Kitchen Supplies'. "What?" He casually said, as though he had just met the three.

"What are you doing here!" Sora demanded, shakily letting go of Roxas' arm. Riku rolled his eyes, sauntering over to the three. Sora took a step back while Axel grabbed onto Roxas in case of sudden 'Run away' moments.

For once, those teal eyes seemed to look… slightly nervous? Maybe it was Sora's imagination. He had no idea those eyes could even hold that emotion!

"I'm still pissed off about my shirt. But I can't just beat you up every time I bump into you. And anyway, my brother raped your brother for not showing up at the fight last night." Riku said, that annoying smirk dancing along his pale lips. Everyone –even Axel- gasped.

Just the thought of an older Riku doing dirty things to scary old Cloud terrified the trio to death!

"I'm joking. He's just going to scowl him." Riku said, handing Axel a box labeled 'Highly Flammable'. Axel's eyes lit up as a once disgusted frown flipped upside down into a cheery grin. "Help out. I'm not gonna move you guys in…" Riku snapped, passing a heavy box to Roxas.

The blonde would have toppled over if a certain red head's black glove hadn't gently pushed him back to his balance.

"Go on! Get! I would hate to have Leon bitch at me for your guy's mistake!" Riku yelled, chasing Roxas off. Calmly, Axel followed behind him. As soon as they were gone, Sora turned to Riku, giving him a fishy look. Riku smirked in return setting some more boxes on the ground.

"Why not you just go hang out with your friends? Your brother can't be that scary…" Sora asked, taking a seat on the back of the truck. Rolling his teal eyes, Riku sighed annoyed.

"Have you _seen_ my brother? He makes your brother looks like an angel…" Riku said, grabbing a box of Sora's old stuff. He tossed it onto the ground without a care.

The box broke open, spreading all sorts of junk onto the ground. Pictures of various people from his island, a couple of drawings and even a black skateboard. Riku frowned when he noted that over half of the pictures were of Sora and some red head…?

A certain drawing caught his eyes though. It looked like a white chalk drawing of the girl and Sora's profiles… giving each other some sort of star shaped fruit.

"You draw worse then Rajin." Riku exclaimed, grabbing some of the pictures and stacking them into small piles.

"I didn't draw that. Kairi did." Sora stated, almost defending himself from the bad art. Kairi? That was a new name to Riku…

"Girlfriend or something?" Riku asked. Sora shook his head, almost sadly. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." Sora said, picking up the last few pictures and dumping them into the box. Watching him leave, Riku frowned. Kairi was definitely something to him.

_"Gotta be a girlfriend…" _Riku thought, looking on the ground for anything leftover.

Then his teal eyes caught it.

A picture by his foot, no one in it. It was a papou tree, glowing gently, almost carelessly in the pink-orange sunset. The light blue ocean waters washed onto the pink sand… it really was a beautiful picture.

"What's that?" Sora asked, watching Riku pick up the picture curiously. An interested look crossed his face, which was better then a glare.

"Nice picture of the beach. If I had paint, I would paint this." Riku said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Sora's eyes lit up at hearing the word 'beach' and 'paint'.

"Y-You paint?" Sora gasped. Teal eyes wandered to him lazily, a tinge of amusement in them. A slight blush crept to his face as he saw Sora's cute expression in the Twilight. Those blue eyes were nearly begging him for something… but what? "If I got you the paint and paid you, would you paint my room like that!" Sora didn't need to worry about if it was a good picture or not, he liked all his pictures of his island's beach.

That taunting smirk painted itself onto the painter's face. And Sora was almost afraid of his word being no…

"You got yourself a deal. But you don't have to pay me. Just buy me a new shirt." Riku said, reaching out and flicking Sora's nose. Sora rubbed the tender spot, looking at Riku in a cute-pout way. "I'm free tomorrow… if you are…"

"That'd be great. You won't beat me up secretly though, will you?" Sora asked, taking a step back shyly. The smirk only became smugger as those teal eyes locked onto his.

"If you're good, I'll hold myself back one more time." Riku said, reaching out and ruffling the all ready messy brown hair. Sora flustered at the contact, closing his eyes tightly at the teasing.

"Well… this is gross to watch…" Roxas' voice came. Sora and Riku turned startled, looking up to see Roxas crossing his arms angrily and Axel making a sigh. "My least favorite person besides Seifer flirting with my new friend."

"I-It's not what you think!" Sora protested, quickly turning to grab some boxes. Riku smirked all the more, following him to get a box as well.

"I guess I'll go hang out at the usual spot tomorrow…" Roxas sighed, going to grab a box also. Axel shrugged, following him in his usual loyal dog way…

* * *

I hope that was ok. This chapter hadn't turned out the way I wanted… -sigh-

I'm not sure I have any thoughts right now… too busy making a plush… I didn't want to bore or annoy you with any thoughts…

Please review and stay for the next chapter.

NEXT CHAPTER: Riku and Sora paint, you get to finally see what Leon and Cloud are doing, and Axel bumps into his rival for Roxas' attention at the usual spot. Not to mention, hopefully the appearance of a certain flower girl.

For AkuRoku fans: I've been having too much fun with AkuRoku lately. I'm gonna be writing short or long -undecided- story on the two within the week. Keep an eye out if you want.


	4. The name's Leon and I like guys

Well, thank you everyone for the reviews so far. Glad so many people like this story. I like this one more then my new AkuRoku story, King of Hearts. This seems to be more cute and I love the Axel and Roxas moments.

Not much when Roxas and Hayner remeet. More focused on Axel's emotions as he leaves.

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR: The name's Leon and I like guys.

* * *

Cloud gritted his teeth angrily as he stared at the brunette in front of him. Sipping coffee from Cloud's favorite cat shaped mug was Leon, beautiful midnight blue eyes dead set on poor Cloud.

His own red cape was tightly wrapped around his mid section and a chair. As much as he hated to admit it, Leon was stronger then him because he was taller and a tad more muscular. But of all the things to tie him up with… his cape!

"What the hell is this for?" Cloud spat out, trying to suppress his emotion. To lose his temper in front of Leon would have literally shamed him. How could someone… hell, almost his twin in emotions remain so calm!

"I'm Riku's older brother." Leon said, sipping his coffee once more with a loud slurp. Whoa, Cloud really did make good coffee… "Enough said."

Cloud mentally took his sword and chopped himself into pieces. How could Riku have had an older brother like this! They looked nothing alike! Cloud had been praying that Riku's older brother was short and uglier. Not tall and muscular!

"Are you some sort of coward?" Leon asked, darting a big black boot out at the edge of the chair. If Cloud hadn't instinctively out spread his legs, the boot would have collided with something precious… "Running from a fight… you shouldn't challenge someone if you don't plan to fight to begin with." His voice came out darker then he had planned, and for once Leon actually sounded like a lion.

Cloud eyed him suspiciously, not looking frightened in anyway. Like a wolf, he was planning all ready a way to get out and escape. Maybe if he leapt forward, he could run out with the chair… and Sora would untie him! A cloud fell over his head when he realized how slow and awkward it would be to walk with a chair strapped to his back. What if Leon was fast? He would probably beat his ass down…

"I thought you wouldn't accept it. And I didn't feel ready to waste my precious beauty sleep on some weakling like you." Cloud curtly spoke, not thinking before the words tumbled from his lips. Leon clearly looked offended when Cloud looked up, their stone cold blue eyes clashing like fire and ice.

"I'm not the one who never showed up! Weakling!" Leon had lost it. For being Riku's brother, Leon considered himself quite the patient guy. But like Cloud, who felt defensive whenever someone was taller then he showed up, Leon had a short temper when others called him weak.

He was not a _weakling._

Blood could be seen rising to his face as his eyes narrowed angrily. "Whatever." Was all he could come back with? Frustrated with the blonde – and finally understanding with his younger brother had wanted him to get beat up- Leon turned to leave.

But the perfect thought came to his mind just as he turned his back on spikes.

"You remember my name, right?" Leon asked, glancing over his shoulders. Shock overwhelmed him when Cloud showed actual emotion, looking thoughtful as he bit his lower lip.

"Wasn't it Squall?" Leon had to grip his fist so he wouldn't rip off those yellow spikes on top of Cloud's head. Why did that name irritate the hell out of him…?

"It's Leon." He said sternly, turning around and crossing his arms over his muscled chest. Cloud opened his mouth to say sorry but quickly closed it a second later. Why say sorry to such a jerk? "Memorize that for me. The name's Leon and I like guys."

Leon smirked a evil smirk, matching his younger brother's face perfectly.

Until a certain voice chirped in.

"I do the 'Memorize' thing! And that describes me!" Both older men jumped slightly, slowly turning to see Axel and Roxas. Roxas had gone pale as a child's bed sheet, shocked to hear Riku's brother was gay. Axel on the other hand was as red as his own hair, if not redder. _No one_ copied him, especially in front of Roxas.

"Oh… sorry." Leon mumbled, turning his attention back to Cloud. He was going to finish his threat whether the pyro liked it or not. "I like guys. Tomorrow night, 7:00. I'll come pick you up." Leon was about to leave again before Roxas now jumped in, the color slowly returning to his face.

"What if he doesn't want to go?" Roxas asked, quirking a blonde eyebrow. Groaning, Leon buried his face in one hand. Couldn't the two kids just leave!

"Then I'll drag him out. Now shut up." Roxas closed his mouth quickly, backing into Axel. Axel made a good dog growl, hugging him tightly and protectively from behind. "Tomorrow night, got it?"

Leon left before anyone could speak another word. Cloud gritted his teeth, nearly taking off his front teeth. Roxas blinked at Sora's brother, wondering what he was going to do next.

"Road kill. Maniac. Untie me without burning anything." Cloud snapped. Quickly scramppering to the blonde's side, Axel and Roxas began untying him.

* * *

"Riku!"

Sora frowned when someone bellowed Riku's name. At the second, he was helping Riku take a light box of his stuff. Riku seemed also confused, not used to hearing his brother sound so pissed off.

"Yeah?" He called back, green-blue eyes narrowing in curiosity. Leon came into view, that dangerous smirk lay out across his face.

"Let's go. I'm finished for now." Dropping the box and never catching Sora's squeak at his stuff falling onto the yellow cobblestone, Riku followed at his brother's heels.

"Did you beat the crap out of him!" Riku asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Worse." Riku's grin smudged off like a bad stain, still leaving bits of a confused smile. What could be worse? "I'm going to turn him gay."

"What!" Sora gasped, over hearing them even though they were heading down the street.

"But he's not your type!" Riku protested, trying hard to keep at the same pace as his taller brother. Leon could only smirk wider.

"You don't know that."

* * *

Roxas wished he never had entered the house. Cloud was fuming, ready to stab anyone who came near him. And Roxas couldn't blame him, it would have been pretty bad for him if Seifer had just randomly decided to ask him out, or kidnap him if he had said no.

But that didn't mean that he could snarl like some wild animal every time someone talked to him.

"I… I think we're gonna go home." Axel whispered after a long time of silence. Sora looked like he wanted to comfort his older brother, but who could? "Let's go Roxas."

Roxas waved a silent good bye at Sora, turning to follow Axel home.

The second the door closed, Sora took a seat next to his brother at the table. Cloud had his face buried in his arms. He wished Roxas could have untied him sooner so he could cut Leon into hundreds of pieces.

"Just pretend to go out for a while. I'll be over here and say that you left on an urgent trip. It'll be ok." Sora said, reaching out to pat his brother's back. Cloud looked up, his wolf-like eyes sending chills through Sora.

He looked ready to kill him.

"You're right. I'll go walking through the other side of town. He won't be able to find me if I disguise myself!" Cloud's eyes were slowly lighting up as he desperately thought of a way out of it.

No, Cloud was not a homophobe. He just wasn't gay. And to have been asked out from who could have been his enemy was sort of… new and awkward for him?

But of course, Leon would not get him. Cloud was never the kind to tease or play hide and seek.

He was more of the kind of lover who played hard to get… violently.

* * *

"Why not we stop for some Sea Salt ice cream?" Roxas suggested, walking side by side with Axel. Axel made a face, sticking out his tongue in pure disgust. He couldn't stand anything cold, and he always hated it when Roxas would order that stuff! Why _ice cream_! "I'll buy you some hot chocolate if you like."

That sadistic grin came back, making Roxas feel better.

As he looked around, admiring his home town… he couldn't help but notice a fence out of the corner of his eye. At seeing it, a sudden grin came to his face.

"The usual spot!" Right as Roxas said this… all the color seemed to drain from Axel's face. "Let's go! I haven't seen Hayner in forever!"

"Um… Roxas… but your curfew…" Axel lowly mumbled, trying his best to get Roxas' attention. Roxas ignored him, quickly running past the fence. Axel took a step to run after him, but it was like a brick had hit him. _He_ wasn't allowed in that _place_ because of _Hayner_.

Ignoring the knots forming in his stomach, Axel began quickly walking toward the usual spot. He could never leave Roxas alone in that place. Not while Hayner was there.

The second he lifted the cloth for a door… he narrowed his darkening green eyes. Jealousy could be seen on every inch of his face.

"Roxas! Long time no see, buddy!" Roxas made short yelps as someone pulled him into a hug, patting his back –no, beating his back painfully. "Where've you been!"

"Roxas?" A girl's voice chirped. Olette jumped down from her seat, excitedly running over with Pence to greet Roxas.

Hayner simply grinned, chestnut colored eyes holding mischief, delight and warmth all at once. Roxas smiled back at him, looking just as happy to see him as well. He never smiled like that around Axel…

Displaced, confused and upset, Axel turned his back on them, storming out with the speed of a forest fire. Upper lip curved, eyes permanently narrowed, fists clenched... Axel almost looked like Satan out in the open at how furious he was.

He could never be mad at Roxas; that much was true. But Hayner… if Roxas hadn't pleaded him to leave Hayner alone, the dirty blonde would have been roasted the second he touched Roxas.

Jealous? Axel could admit it. He had told Roxas, making the excuse up that 'if you are my best friend, why spend so much time with him?' Maybe it was because Hayner was before him… before Axel and Roxas had gotten to really know each other, Hayner was Roxas' original best friend…

And it was obvious Hayner was jealous back. But when he looked at Roxas, Axel couldn't help but spot the distant look in his brown eyes and the goofy smile…

Just thinking of the way Hayner looked at Roxas pissed the _hell_ out of Axel.

"He can go spend all the time in the world with Roxas. I didn't want any hot chocolate anyway…"

* * *

That night wasn't good for anyone. And I mean no one slept through perfectly.

Sora was excited about the next day. Fear nipped at his heels at the thought of having the bully of the sandlot in his room painting. But excitement sped his heart up a few beats. What if he saw the nice side of Riku again? Maybe he would get him to smile this time…

Cloud on the other hand was trying to suffocate himself with his pillow. If only he had known Riku's brother was gay… Maybe he should have just beaten Riku silly while he had the chance…

Roxas couldn't sleep at all. He tossed and turn, trying to get uncomfortable. Why had Axel just vanished? It wasn't like him! He would never leave without telling Roxas! Maybe he was really upset with him…

Riku was up at his desk, light burning his eyes as he sketched out the design for Sora's walls. Sure, he was excited about it. A little too excited. Not only was he unable to sleep, but inside he was worrying about what if he messed up or it didn't come out perfect? Maybe he was having second thoughts on the jerk that ruined his favorite shirt with sea salt ice cream…

Leon was out like a rock. He didn't worry too much, just wondered if he would have to wrestle Cloud out the door. Maybe he would buy him some flowers before he reached Sora's house…

Axel, who was bundled in 3 thick fleece blankets with his room's heat at 80 degrees, was fuming silently to himself. Guilt was now piercing him deep inside his chest. Maybe he would apologize in the morning…

* * *

That morning, Sora was greeted with an unusual wake up call. No, his window was not broken and his carpet was fine. In fact, his brother had woken up.

A fist snatched him up by the collar, shaking him awake. The second his looked into an almost identical face structure to his, Sora was positive it was his older brother. And the bright blonde spikes were a dead give away.

"C-Cloud…?" He groggily groaned.

"I disown you now. You can go live with road-kill for all I care. But never enter my house again." Cloud growled dangerously, almost sounding like he meant it. Past Cloud, Sora could see Riku winking at him and wearing paint overalls. Flustering a new shade of red, Sora woke up all the way.

"R-Riku!" Sora gasped, scrambling out of Cloud's grip. "I thought you would come over later!" Riku crossed his arms over his chest, that evil smirk in place.

"I thought I'd come surprise you. But I obviously surprised someone else a lot more…" He chuckled, looking over to spot Cloud giving him a murderous look.

"Don't worry about him, He'll grow up soon." Sora laughed, waving his brother out of his room. Cloud left without another word, being respectful. But he slammed the door extra loud, warning all of Twilight Town that he was ready to kill everyone if he had another 'accidental bumping' into the evil smirk brothers. After he was gone, Sora turned back to his new friend-enemy. Spotting something unusual, he tilted his head to the side cutely, making Riku smile. "What's with your eyes? You look exhausted…"

Blushing madly, Riku tried to cover it up with a glare. "You kidding me? I'm ready to take on the world today! I stayed up last night getting everything set up!" Riku triumphantly cried. Sora laughed, holding a goofy grin. And it didn't annoy Riku one bit… "Hurry up. Let's get started."

* * *

Axel never was a heavy sleeper. Unlike Roxas, he couldn't stand sleep. He felt like he was wasting his life away when it came to sleeping.

Something broke through his window, shattering the glass onto the dark red carpet. Opening his green eyes lazily, Axel frowned in confusion.

A thick glass bottle filled with water rolled back and fourth on the carpet. A note labeled 'pay back for my window' was taped to it. Just after reading the note did Axel's heart start to pump him awake. Roxas was here! Roxas never came to get him first! Axel always had to come to him!

He blasted open his window, looking down with the most stunned face he had ever had. Sure enough, Roxas was looking up at him with a rather depressed expression on his face. Inside, his heart exploded. Axel was overjoyed that Roxas had come to visit him… but that expression killed the moment.

Awkwardly, Axel reached behind to scratch the back of his neck. "Whattcha doing here, Roxas?" Axel called, not all too loudly. It was only 8:00 in the morning…

Roxas held up a sign, almost as big as him. Axel's eyes widened at reading it.

In giant block letters decorated with flames were the words 'I am sorry, Axel. Forgive me'. Axel gave off a faint grin, feeling more guilty yet happy at the same time.

"Do you forgive me, Axel?" Roxas hollered up. Trying to keep a stern face on to frighten him to tears, Axel narrowed his eyes.

"Stay right there!" Flinching, Roxas nodded. Axel looked at himself. All he had on were some black fleece Pj-pants with flames as a decoration. Sometimes Axel wondered if he should learn to start wearing thinner, more colorful clothes instead of black with flames…

Roxas waited in the same spot until Axel came down, not caring to get dressed or not. The blonde lowered his gaze to the ground shamefully, closing his sapphire eyes. Hopefully Axel would forgive him…

If he had looked up at Axel, maybe Roxas would have seen the gentle smile on his face. And that was _rare_, for even Roxas.

Roxas shot open his eyes with the speed of sound when two arms wrapped around his small form, pulling him into a much taller – and warmer- body. Without a care in the world, Roxas rested his cheek onto Axel's perfectly carved chest, like it had been built for him to lay on.

"Sorry." His muffle reply came.

"You've got no reason to be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry." Axel said, shrugging as he hugged Roxas tighter.

"Still best friends, right?" Roxas asked. Axel rolled his emerald eyes, about ready to hit some sense back into the blonde.

"Of course. I'm not gonna stop being your friend over some little problem I've got." Axel chuckled. Roxas didn't make a sound; he was all ready starting to add things up perfectly. "We're still best friends." _If not more…_ Axel privately wanted to add that onto his words, but he didn't want to scare Roxas away…

* * *

"You suck at painting."

"Shut up!"

Riku laughed, a deep, caring laugh. Sora was painting in every wrong way. He couldn't hold the brush right. He didn't do even stroke.

It was like a kid with water colors paint. It was a huge mess…

Flicking some pink paint at the brunette, Riku smirked. "I'll teach you how to paint sometime, ok? Then you and I can open our own painting business." Riku offered, doing an even stroke of pink onto the wall for the ending of the sunset. He was faster then most people, especially Sora.

"Then we can save up enough money for some sea salt ice cream!" Sora cheered, wincing as the paint got onto his cheek. A glare from Riku quickly reminded them of when they had first met, so Sora hurriedly took back the comment. "I… I mean save our money up for other food…?"

"Hurry up and get that wall done. I have to finish before Leon picks your brother up for their date." Riku laughed. Sora sighed, shaking his head sadly. Poor Cloud… no wonder he almost disowned his own brother…

"Is he really gonna try hooking up with Cloud?" Sora asked, sounding half needy and half curious. Blinking, Riku walked over to him, brining some paint to help Sora finish his wall.

"He has about as big of a chance with your brother as I do you." Riku said. Sora's eyes widened in horror, turning to question Riku if he had heard right. But a big paint brush full of orange paint smeared onto his cheek. A laughing Riku got some more orange paint onto the brush to start painting the wall instead of Sora. "I'm joking! Jeez, don't look so scared."

"It… it wasn't funny…" Sora grumbled, hitting Riku's arm with the paint. Riku smirked, dabbing at Sora's cheek with the orange again.

"I'm not gay like Leon. And I know you have a thing for that Kali girl…"

"Her name's Kairi and I don't like her." Sora defensively snarled, hitting Riku in the face with the paint. Riku yelped to have an orange nose. "Get it through your thick head."

"_I_ have the thick head! Excuse me, but I'm brighter then you'll ever be." Riku retorted, leaving a thick orange stain on Sora's forehead. Sora pouted, hitting Riku's neck in anger.

The two kept dabbing at the wall and themselves, starting a small paint war. At just hearing them argue and seeing them wrestle with orange paint, you would have suspected the two to be the best of friends. Almost like they had known each other for years…

Neither of them noticed Cloud in the doorway, shaking his head as a faint smile traced his lips. He turned his back on the two, getting ready for his 'runaway' bride routine…

* * *

How was it? I liked it. I'm pretty proud of the way Axel and Roxas made up. Originally Hayner and Axel were gonna trash talk each other, but I felt like writing some romance. Sora and Riku will be together still for the next chapter. When Cloud leaves, the two are alone…

Cloud and Leon's date? Lol, Cloud's gonna run a certain place Leon was hoping to visit before Cloud's house. Got my hint from when he was sleeping? And where there are flowers, there is Aerith!

So, look forward to the next chapter: Leon kidnaps Cloud from a precious flower girl? Riku and Sora have dinner together? Axel might get the courage to start giving Roxas some hints?

They are questions because I might not have time to write in everyone of them. But I have the perfect way for Axel to confess his feelings… if he does. Should he? He'll wait a while of course… just to make you guys wait. D

It'll come sooner, I've just been through hell and back but everything's cooling down slowly. Next to update: King of Hearts then this. Or maybe the other way around, who knows.


	5. Fireworks for the cutie

Whoot! You reviewers rock! I thought I would only reach 65 reviews! But 88…! Hope I didn't make you guys/girls wait too long!

I'm enjoying this story so far, so many ideas filling up my head. Hope you like them. I'm in such a good mood so I have to write.

NOTE: I couldn't spell check this because the computer is in pain-in-the-ass mode right now. So ignore spelling errors, sorry.

Best be off with the story:

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE: Fireworks for the cutie

* * *

Cloud adjusted his black collar, looking himself over in the mirror. He had used some hair gel, flattening his spikes ever so slightly. A black outfit clung tightly to him, the only color contrasting with it were the bright yellow spikes on his head and the silver wolf head-shaped buttons here and there.

"I'll never be noticed in this…" Cloud proudly muttered to himself, adjusting his shirt and smirking cockily. It wasn't everyday he felt this good about himself.

Footsteps came wandering down the hall, catching Cloud's ears in an instant. Roxas walked by, smiling at the other blonde as he passed the doorway.

"Hey Cloud!" He said, recognizing Cloud in a split second. Cloud smirked, nodding his head to show Roxas that he had gotten his attention. Axel walked shortly behind him with a calm, peaceful smile on his face.

"Hey there Cloud…" Axel sighed, a content grin on his face. Cloud smirked a tad warmer, waving a hand.

When he spotted his mistake, Cloud groaned. A black gloved hand struck his forehead, scowling him for not seeing it the first time. If Roxas and Axel had discovered he was Cloud, Leon would definitely…

"Oh well. It's good enough…" He grumbled, storming out of the bathroom.

* * *

Roxas was horrified to see who was next to his new friend. Axel grinned, taking out a chakra in a brief flash.

"I've got it covered, Roxas!" He said, pushing Roxas roughly behind him.

Riku looked just as shocked to see him. Only when he spotted what was in Axel's black gloved hands did he seem a bit fearful. Sora jumped in front of his head, shaking his head wildly.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Sora begged. Roxas' face softened just at seeing Sora jump in front of their arch rival. Axel's shoulders slumped with disappointment as he looked from Sora back to Riku. "He's not doing anything bad! He's helping me paint my room!"

"Sora…" Roxas wearily said, still holding a guard up. Sora presented to them that famous goofy smile, making a weak chuckle as he did. "He's our rival! Seifer beats me up because of him!" Roxas said, swinging an arm dramatically to the side for a saddened touch.

"Not true. Seifer picks on you because he thinks you're cute." Riku corrected. Roxas' arm fell downward, his jaw shortly following behind. Axel straightened up, green eyes burning through Riku like paper. "I… I mean he's jealous Hayner hangs out with you…" The pyro didn't look any better, just angrier at hearing the name of the dirty blonde. "Nothing's coming out right…" Riku gave in, shaking his head slowly.

"Give him a chance! He's not all that bad!" Sora angrily cried. Roxas gave him a piercing look.

Give Riku a chance? What was the point? Seifer hated Roxas. Roxas hated Rajin. Rajin was scared of Axel. Axel despised anyone who picked on Roxas, which was the group Riku was in… Either way, none of them could have possibly of gotten along…

"Forget it…" Roxas growled, turning on his foot and storming out of the room. "There's no point…" Axel followed him like usual, just as shocked as Sora. Roxas didn't get that angry so fast…

A loud slam came from the main door of the house, making both boys left in Sora's room jump. Sora's eyes lowered to the wooden floor, shoulders falling slowly. Roxas seemed pretty angry…

"Sorry…" Riku mumbled, noticing the drastically changing atmosphere. Sora looked up at him, a fake smile carving into his adorable face.

"It's not your fault. Do you want to go home?" Sora asked, blue jewel eyes shimmering. Riku frowned, taking it into thought. To hang out would be fun… and to leave a person alone after that would be guilt-tripping…

"Nah. I'll make you dinner." Riku said, brushing past him to reach the kitchen downstairs. Sora's eyes blasted to wide eyed, his cheeks lighting up like they were on fire. "Call it a date." Riku laughed, teasing Sora of course.

Judging by the expression on Sora's face, he took Riku seriously.

* * *

James-Bond like eyes swept the area, checking to see if any brown haired men were even close to near by. When seeing no one matching Leon's profile, Cloud stepped out into the open, a cautious expression painted onto his face.

So far, so good. No sign of Leon anywhere.

Cloud crouched low when he reached another corner, hiding himself behind a pot filled with yellow flowers. Here, he was sure to fit in!

_"No sign still…that's good…"_ Cloud thought, navy blue eyes scanning the street back and fourth. Where was he going to go? He would wander of course. Wandering from area to area while Leon searched elsewhere would make perfect sense.

He never saw the vase of yellow flowers tip over… that is, until it made a loud shatter. Within seconds he was behind another flower pot, hiding himself from the world.

"Too close…" He sighed, wiping a bead of sweat from the side of his face. A soft pink material brushed over his cheek. A perfume smelling like tulips began spreading through the air… and he became calm. Leon would never wear that… "Yes?" Cloud asked, turning around slowly.

A pair of dazzling green eyes stared down at him curiously.

"May I help you? Or do you want to knock over another pot of flowers of mine?" Cloud examined the young woman carefully. Her dirty blonde hair –more brown though- was pulled into a thick braid. And her face structure…

Cloud's face fell within a second. She had the same face structure as road kill! Were they related or was he imagining it!

Her thin arms crossed over her pink dress and she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Why would someone as cool and tough as you are be hiding behind… flowers?" She giggled, but not a girly-high giggle. Cloud found himself turning red in the face, like he had been running a complete mile from Leon.

"Um…" He caught himself stuttering and quickly kept his voice in check. "There's a man hunting me down. He wants to turn me gay… and I think rape me." As serious as Cloud sounded, she couldn't contain herself from laughing, green eyes twinkling.

"I do hope you don't mean Leon. He'll probably have his way with you in no time." She said, turning to tend to some flowers out in the twilight. Cloud raised a thin blonde eyebrow. Wasn't she going tell him to leave? "As long as you don't knock anymore pots over, you're fine where you are."

"You know about Leon and his… gay side?" Cloud questioned. He was surprised with himself; he never warmed up this quickly to people.

"Who in Twilight Town doesn't? And if he wants to be gay, that's fine. People should be with who they care for, no matter what gender." She spoke sweetly, turning and grabbing the flowers Cloud had knocked over. "I have a gay brother, but he moved to Hollow Bastion a while ago with his boyfriend, Zexion. Ever heard of Demyx?"

Cloud shook his head. He was honestly expecting Roxas' name to fall from her peach lips…

"He comes down every now and then to visit me and my little brother, Roxas. Roxas gets sad when he leaves, but I ask Axel to keep him company so he isn't too lonely." She went on about the three men important to her. Her older brother, gay Demyx; her younger brother, moody Roxas; and her brother's best friend, crazy Axel.

After a minute or two, she clapped a hand to her mouth, looking utterly shocked with herself. "How terrible of me! I forgot to tell you my name!" Flashing him an angelic smile, she winked. "The name's Aerith."

"I've met road kill. Never knew he had a sister." Cloud said, his nickname form Axel's best friend falling out without any hesitation. Aerith allowed an eyebrow to raise in confusion. Flinching, Cloud corrected himself. "I mean, Roxas."

"He probably wouldn't. I moved out a couple years ago." She whispered quietly, almost not wanting to speak the words. Cloud didn't seem all that moved, he was too busy turning his attention back to the crowd of people. "Well I'll be darned… your prince in white armor has arrived." Aerith laughed.

Frowning, Cloud turned to see Leon walking toward the flower shop, no emotion trailing onto his face. Panicking, Cloud scurried like a rat behind another big pot of yellow flowers, praying Leon wouldn't catch sight of him.

Aerith pretended to not see him, leaning on the counter of her shop with a beautiful smile on her face. "What can I do for you, Leon?"

Leon smirked, brushing some hair behind his ear.

"I need some advice." Aerith's smile slowly faded. Cloud ducked lower, not making a sound. Hell, he was hardly breathing… "I'm about to pick up this one guy. His name is Cloud. Blonde, spiky hair, and likes to wear red."

The gun blade-owner paused when her green eyes flickered to the yellow flowers. So that was what his name was…

"He's not the gay type, but I plan to make him gay. What sort of flowers do you think-"

"Yellow flowers to match his hair. Plus, they aren't exactly stereotypical. Roses would be too sudden but you don't want something too feminine like tulips. Try those over there!" She cheered, pointing to the vase Cloud was ducked behind.

Cloud's jaw dropped. How could she have back stabbed him? After the few minutes they shared… was she that cold hearted?

"Yellow… whatever…" Leon shrugged, walking over to the vase. Cloud's head went into a blur of thoughts. Why would Aerith betray him? How was he going to get out of this mess? Why... was Leon trying to buy him flowers? "What the…?"

Sighing, Cloud shook his head. Too late… he had been discovered…

"What…?" Was all he could get out? His blue eyes looked up to see midnight blue. Leon frowned down on him, anger slowly building up from the edge to the center. "You tried to run away, didn't you?"

An idea rattled through Cloud's head. Of course!

"Think fast!" Cloud barked. Leon got ready to take a leap for him in case he ran… but Cloud grabbed the yellow flowers from above him, throwing them carelessly into Leon's face.

At how hard he had chucked them, the yellow petals and powder went everywhere, like a smoke bomb to Leon's vision.

"Damn it!" He hissed, rubbing his eyes hastily. Footsteps came to his ears, but were all ready fading into the crowd. Hardly able to open his eyes fully, Leon growled as he faced the direction of where Cloud was running off to.

Cloud glanced over his shoulder, a true smirk crossing his lips. And maybe it was the fact that not only was his date running from him and the smirk on his face… maybe it was all that that may have set Leon over his limit.

"**_Cloud!"_**

****

* * *

****

"Things will get better. Don't be so gloomy."

"I'm not gloomy… I'm just thinking…"

Axel rolled his emerald eyes in irritation. That was his stubborn Roxas…

The two sat by the usual spot, backs to the warm brick walls. The twilight fell upon the two, leaving them in front of open eyes.

Axel was seated with his knees brought to his chest, one arm draped around the little dirty blonde beside him. Frustrated and upset with Sora's new choice of friends, Roxas allowed his head to rest on Axel's shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself over it. Not your fault. It's not like you chased him into Riku's group." Axel struggled to come out with the best words for his best friends. But his attempts were pathetic as Roxas buried his face into his shoulder, making a slight whimper. "Roxas, cheer up!"

"I hate that group. Ever since I was little… Seifer always picked on me!" Roxas whined, blue eyes tightly closed at remembering the horrible memories.

Axel seemed to grin in memory. "Those happen to be some of my best memories, thank you! If he didn't pick on you, I would have labeled you with the book worms of the town!"

Roxas sighed contently at the thought of how they had met. It had been back when he was 7 and Axel was 9…

* * *

Blood leaking onto the ground, mixing with tears.

A black eye, a darkened blue shade circling a bright blue eye. A bloody nose, leaking blood onto the yellow cobblestone.

Young Roxas sat by the metal fence to the usual spot, making muffled sobs into his hands. Seifer had gotten made because Roxas had practiced his skateboarding skills in the Sandlot. What had it equaled? A painful beating from a blue bat…

He whimpered, trying hard no to sniffle. Crying was for girls, but it was uncontrollable. And blood would go up from his nose, and that was just gross. Roxas was too sad to go inside and show his family… Would they be mad? Because he had gotten into another fight with that bully?

A sudden smell filled the air. It smelt like… firecrackers? Fireworks?

Looking up, Roxas made a soft whimper to calm him down. A firework was in front of him, a small flame burning its way down to the center. A panda smiled at him from the stick to hold it.

POP!

It burst into flares, small firecrackers everywhere. A green, a blue, even a red!

Roxas' eyes seemed to shine at the sight of the firework, inches away from his feet. It really was pretty…

"Pretty cool, huh?" A voice chuckled lowly next to his ear. Jumping, Roxas looked to the side to see… bright red hair? It was bright like the dying red firecracker…

Maybe that's why Axel always reminded him of the firecracker from that moment…

"It's my favorite at the moment…" The new kid took a seat beside him, wilding grinning. He was like a forest fire to Roxas. Burning away at the edges of excitement; ready to burn away Roxas' sadness in a mass of flames… "When I turn 13, my dad says he'll get me the biggest one at the store! I can't wait! I'm gonna grab that one punk from the Sandlot and strap it to his back!"

Roxas smiled weakly at the thought of Seifer screaming as a missile-shaped firework was duck taped onto his back. The dirty blonde broke out into laughter right after the deep thought.

"You're cuter when you smile." Axel bluntly stated. Roxas' cheeks lit up pink, like a sunburn. A wide grin crossed the red head's face as he winked. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Roxas smiled wider, looking simply adorable in Axel's vision. "I'm Roxas!"

* * *

Roxas smiled at the thought, opening his eyes. He had always tried to smile more ever since then… just to impress Axel in some mild way. Or even to show Axel he was happy hanging out with him…

"Hey… you know… I still have Seifer's hat. Wanna burn it?" Axel laughed, pulling the piece of greasy fleece out of his black cloak. Roxas smiled brighter, bringing out his true charm.

"I'll burn it if you burn it with me." Axel grinned at hearing him say this. Today had been a good day for him. He didn't recall bonding with Roxas this much. Maybe he should get jealous more often to gather more time from his best friend?

Footsteps suddenly interrupted the two. Roxas and Axel looked up to see Cloud frantically running up the hill, making soft pants as he did. No word was crossed between the three, just a glance at the eyes.

Cloud vanished quickly, that still nervous face in place.

Moments later, Leon came running up, huffing from fury and anger locked inside from chasing his date. Once again, not a word came into the air. Just a meeting between midnight blue eyes, sapphire hued and emerald colored eyes.

Leon dashed off in the same direction as Cloud, growling to himself like a lion.

Roxas blinked, looking in the direction on where they had taken off. "Axel… what was that all about?"

Axel shook his head, leaning over Roxas to look with him. "I didn't get it memorized..."

* * *

Sora's eyes widened to the point where they almost did bug out. Riku's green-blue eyes twinkled as that wicked smirk tweaked at the corners of his mouth.

A candle set dinner…?

Candles and roses were set in the center, followed by trays of food. A elegant table cloth to make the setting perfect… and the only thing destroying the fancy scenery were the moving boxes everywhere!

"What's all this?" Sora asked, tilting his head to the side cutely.

"I said it was a date. Get over it." Riku warned, his voice just about rising into a snap. Sora's eyes held a distrusting look in them, still questioning them. "Oh, come on! I'm not gay! It's a joke!"

_"A bit far to be going for a joke..."_ Sora thought, taking a seat at the end of the rectangle table…

* * *

Was it ok? I sort of liked it… I couldn't help picturing a cute Axel and Roxas when they were little. Lol, I bet Roxas had a big head like Namine and Axel had buck teeth!

Next chapter: Riku keeps making 'joke' moves on Sora, Sora is incredibly confused, Leon catches Cloud… and Hayner decides to wake Roxas up? How will Axel feel when he wants to give Roxas his special wake up call?

I'm all ready writing out the Riku/Sora date. Super cute so far and pretty long. Through out the story, there will be Roxas and Axel flashbacks. But I promise they will be cute.


	6. The island stud and the Papou bachelor

Damn it… I need to get back to King of Hearts soon… but I can't stop writing to this…

APOLOGY: I'm terribly sorry for not updating sooner. But I haven't been able to use the computer much in the past week or even check my e-mail in a while… all because of finals. I've been studying and doing them… but they're steadily slowing down. Until June 15th, the updates will be a week or two slower –maybe a bit sooner if I seriously try- because I have more tests coming up… but thank you for putting up with this.

And for anyone who private messaged me, I haven't been able to check my e-mail, so I'm sorry. I'm especially sorry to my #1 reviewer, and you know who you are. : )

Ok, I keep forgetting the disclaimer. This will count for any future chapters:

I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS OR ANYTHING ELSE. Square Enix all the way… legal rights and all…

Now it's the times you've all been waiting for! Date-o-mania!

* * *

CHAPTER SIX: The island stud and the Papou bachelor

* * *

Cloud stopped running for a brief moment, panting- no, wheezing from running. A wild smile was washing over his face. For some odd reason… there was an extreme thrill from running from someone intimidating. Maybe it was because Cloud had never really met someone bigger and meaner then he was…

"Let's see if he can still catch up…!" He took a step up another endlessly long hill. Leon would never catch him. That was a given, Cloud was much faster then he was. And the lion should have remembered one thing: Cloud would never let _anyone_ catch him.

"Going somewhere, spikes?" Cloud froze like a block of ice at hearing the harsh voice. Slowly… he turned to see Leon standing behind him. While Cloud was wheezing from trying his best to escape the scary gay brunette… the 'scary gay' brunette stood perfectly fine, tapping his foot impatiently.

"H-How…?" Cloud couldn't even get out the right words. How could he possibly be fine! Cloud could be honest with him and say he was in perfect shape. So how could he be panting while Leon was fine?

"I've been born and raised in this town. I think I would be able to handle _my_ Twilight Hills instead of _your_ sand, island boy." Leon taunted, remaining his ground. On the other hand… his words went after Cloud, prickling at his heart.

_NO ONE MADE FUN OF HIS ISLAND._

"Shut your mouth, city boy! You're just jealous because I was born in an all natural place, where I had to fend myself from sharks!" Cloud bellowed, stomping his way toward Leon. And maybe he was exaggerating, but who cared? Through his anger, he never once saw the smirk on Leon's lips at watching Cloud come to him. "I should beat your hot-shot face in with a papou fruit…!" Just as Cloud ran at him, a fist clenched at his side for emergency use…

Leon ducked, looping his arms around Cloud's waist. Yelping, Cloud dug his nails into his back, blue hued eyes widening.

"So glad you made it easier by bringing yourself to me." Leon chuckled, keeping an iron-grip on Cloud so he wouldn't fall off his shoulder. Cloud gritted his teeth, ready to rip out that silky brown hair.

"You son of a bitch!"

* * *

Sora's eyes darted from food to food… as he simply sat with a cute expression on his face as he held his fork up. Riku sat across from him, picking whatever he wanted to have onto his plate.

"You cook at home?" Sora asked, taking a piece of chicken onto his plate.

"Most of the time. Leon's doesn't eat much and anyway… his food is gross. What about you?" Riku asked, trying to a start a conversation as he took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and dug in. Sora's face fell as his cheeks lit up.

"Cloud doesn't let me use the kitchen stuff. Last time, I sort of… set the window curtain on fire…" Sora shamefully said. Riku broke into laughter instantly, the picture painting itself into his head. Sora would have been rushing around, fanning out the curtain before the angry blonde came into the kitchen… then accidentally making the flame even bigger.

"God… I bet you were trouble at your little island…" Riku chuckled, wiping his eyes in case any tears came down from the great laugh he had just had. Sora fell silent, taking a bite of his chicken. "So, what's your love life like?"

Sora stopped in mid bite, his whole face seeming like a star at how bright his cheeks became. "L-Love life? I've only had one girlfriend in my life… and she got chased away by Kairi…"

Riku seemed to slow down his chewing, trying to suppress the protective scowl on his face.

"Her name was Namine. Our relationship didn't really last long… Kairi got jealous and told her off…" Sora sighed, shaking his head gloomily as the scene where Kairi started yelling at Namine in front of him re-painted itself into his head. Riku's green-blue eyes seemed to be thinking the same thing, only more of a cat fight instead of a verbal fight.

"Whoa. I've never actually had girls fight over me…" Riku confessed, his face dulling to a gray shade. But the color quickly came back to his face when a joke played itself in his head. "I bet you were the 'Island Stud'!"

"As a matter of fact… that's what all the girls called me…" Sora groaned, remembering how at least 3 girls a day would call him that stupid name. Riku's face dropped once more. _He hated it when he was right… _"Cloud was the 'Papou bachelor'. He was constantly chased and asked by women who wanted to share their Papou fruit with him. The hardest girl had to be Tifa. Sweet lady, Cloud just didn't want to end their friendship… but she was more athletic then him…"

Riku nodded, the painting in his mind showing the picture. Sora would laugh as Cloud darted down the beach, a faster, brunette woman throwing herself onto him and then the two wrestling in a friendly sort of manner.

"What's a papou fruit?" Riku questioned, taking a sip of milk from his cup.

"A yellow star-shaped fruit that only grew on my island. You break it in half, and share it with someone you love. Then, that person will spend eternity with you." Sora stated in a matter-o-factly tone.

It took all of Riku's manly being not to spit out his milk out of shock. What kind of fruit was that! A marriage fruit or something!

"Sounds like a death trap to me." Riku chuckled, holding his casual smirk. Just as he looked up, Sora stared at him, their eyes meeting. A faint blush tinted Sora's cheeks cutely, almost as adorable as one of Roxas' priceless pout faces.

"I actually find it kind of romantic. Because I've seen it in action and it actually works…" Sora mumbled, hardly audible to Riku.

In that split moment, Riku almost whispered 'I think I do too now'…

* * *

Axel had never expected his evening with Roxas to go so great.

They sat, leaning against a brick wall in the twilight… a medium sized fire –huge in Roxas' opinion but small in Axel's eyes- burning brightly in front of them. Axel stared at the fire contently, looking more relaxed and calm as ever.

But then again, could you blame him?

Roxas leaned against him, one of Axel's black-draped arms slung over his shoulder… the side of his cheek nestled into Axel's shoulder. Axel rested his head onto that spiky blonde mop on his head. The two looked like the perfect couple… no matter how wicked Axel's appearance looked at first glance or how innocent Roxas looked compared to him.

Through the fire, Seifer's hat burned… becoming nothing more then ashes.

"I'm sleepy…" Roxas whispered, closing his eyes. Axel really did make the perfect bed…

"Want me to carry you home?" Axel asked, snapping out his pyro-daze at hearing the boy's voice. Deciding not to talk because it required too much energy, Roxas nodded gently against Axel's shoulder.

The red head got up, lifting Roxas into his arms. To anyone, it looked like Roxas was a little kid who needed to be carried to bed. To Axel, he felt like Roxas was some sort of bride or something…

"The grease from the hat seemed to make the fire rise, huh?" Axel laughed, keeping his voice to a whisper so he wouldn't wake Roxas up too much. Roxas laughed also, eyes still closed.

Silence passed… and Axel found himself trying to walk slower, enjoying the moment of carrying his best friend like this.

"Hey… Roxas?" Roxas made no sound in reply, so Axel looked down at him. The twilight lit up his features, giving his round cheeks a glow along with a shine to his hair. But what Axel couldn't help staring at… were his lips. In general, the blonde looked like girl, and kissable at that. "If you keep looking cute like that, I might steal your first kiss…" Or at least… Axel prayed it would be his first kiss…

Axel never caught the slightly opened blue eye… or the slight grin on the wide awake Roxas' face…

* * *

At one glance inside the Sea Salt Ice cream restaurant… you would think it was like a criminal has been arrested by a brunette police officer.

Leon sat, looking at his menu with a slight smirk on his face. Cloud sat across from him… tied up around the mid section to his chair. A menu was laid out in front of him for easier reading use.

"How am I gonna eat this way?" Cloud sighed. Leon scratched his chin, nodding as he wondered that also.

"I'll feed you-"

"I would rather starve." Cloud bitterly spat out, his sapphire shaded eyes begging for a challenge from those midnight blue eyes. Leon gave him a quick scowl, debating what to do. He had never actually planned on Cloud running away… or ending up tied up in a restaurant.

"You have got to be the biggest homophobe I've ever seen." Leon sighed, signaling a waiter over. Cloud jumped slightly, forcing his chair forward by at least 2 inches.

"Shut up, _Leon_. I'm straight, that's all. You wanna be gay, fine by me. But don't try to challenge yourself to turning me gay. Because that will never happen." Cloud explained, sounding like a wolf ready to attack. The lion purred in response.

"Well, that's exactly what the last guy said…" Leon's eyes twinkled with mischief as he got ready to bring up some shocking news. "Unfortunately, Demyx became gay within the week." Cloud's jaw dropped at hearing this, remembering the name of Aerith and Roxas' brother's name. Leon was the one who had turned him gay? But how was Zexion involved? "Then again, because of that… his secret admirer, Zexion, beat me up and stole him away…"

Cloud nodded, his jaw going back up to join his face. So that's how Zexion was involved.

"Do you like women or have a girlfriend I should know about?" Leon questioned. For a brief second, he sounded like some sort of jealous wife or something…

"No I don't have any girlfriends…" Cloud said slowly. His words came out wrong and he fretted over Leon thinking he was bisexual. "But that's only because I don't have time for relationships!" He quickly added.

Leon rolled his eyes. Right…

"I'm glad you're pissed off. You talk more when you're angry." Leon grumbled. Cloud opened his mouth to snap anything offensive… but closed it quickly. Was Leon bothered by quiet people? In that case, he was going to be as quiet as possible…

* * *

Riku leaned back in his chair, setting his feet onto the table in bad manners. Sora grabbed both their plates, walking to the kitchen quickly to rejoin Riku in the dinning room.

As he left, Riku stared at his back… tilting his head to the side. Sora had a cute walk…

When Sora came back, Riku had a marvelous grin on his face… worrying Sora to pieces.

"I wanna take you to my secret place tomorrow." Riku bluntly said, leaping out of his chair. Sora knew it was a bad idea… and he didn't like seeing the happy, light bulb idea Riku in front of him. He missed his mean, bully Riku all ready.

"What?" He asked, taking a nervous step back. Riku's grin began fading, turning into a smile.

"I own this town, did you know that?" Riku spoke with a cocky tone… and Sora sighed in relief. For a moment there, he thought he had lost him… "People know not to mess with _my_ sandlot… but they also know not to enter my secret place. No one's ever been there… and I want you to be the first."

Sora gave him a goofy grin… and for once, it didn't irk Riku in the least.

Sora felt honored! Not even greasy haired Seifer was allowed to go to Riku's secret place!

"You mean it?" Sora gasped, a twinkle in his eyes. Riku smirked, enjoying the fan-girl like look he was receiving. It was almost like he had told him Santa Claus was real…

Riku began walking to the door, ready to leave. Sora followed like a lost puppy behind him, wagging it's tail and cocking it's head to the side curiously.

"You're going?" Sora questioned. Riku shrugged, then nodded… making up his mind. "What time tomorrow?" Sora asked, assuming Riku knew he was talking about his secret place.

Looking thoughtful, Riku looked at the ground and scratched his chin. It would be nice if they did it in the morning… because he hated to wait…

"How about noon?" He asked, looking back up to meet Sora's gorgeous blue eyes once more. Sora nodded, that goofy grin only getting bigger by the second. "It's a date then." Riku laughed, opening the door and running out before Sora could give him any funny stares.

If he looked over his shoulder, he would have seen Sora's bugged eyed funny face.

* * *

Axel felt miserable when he appeared on Roxas' doorstep late that night, still carrying Roxas. He didn't want to put the blonde down, or even consider ending their night.

The first doorbell ring went out unnoticed, so Axel had to open the door and bring Roxas to his room on his own.

He tiptoed, and it was easy too. Roxas was like a pillow, light and soft. And lucky for him, Axel was good at sneaking things around sleeping people. Can you imagine what Roxas' parents would have done at seeing their son in the arms of another man? Of his best friend? Of a pyromaniac's arms?

Axel bit his lower lip, picturing the old couple as well. It would be pleasant…

By the time they reached the blonde's room, Axel sighed heavily. This was the moment he would rather die then perform…

"Good night Roxas." He whispered, walking into the blonde's room. As gently as possible, he lowered him onto the bed… and found himself gazing at the blonde in some sort of trance.

Roxas was asleep, right? He wouldn't have noticed what Axel was about to do… right?

Gulping, Axel leaned forward… and planted a chaste kiss onto his forehead, drawing back before he had the urge to do anything else. Fortunately, Roxas only stirred in his sleep, pulling a blanket over himself. Axel grinned, not quite in the way he normally did… but close enough for Roxas to like his expression.

Just as he headed out of the room… he shivered, rubbing his arms furiously. Angrily, he turned to the heating system. It read 80 degrees in his room… and Axel didn't like it.

"What the hell, Roxas? Do you want to freeze to death or something?" Axel hissed, turning the system to 100 degrees. When the warmth flooded the room, he grinned. "Much better…"

The second the door closed… Roxas opened his eyes, resting two fingers on the exact place Axel had kissed him. Blushing madly, he couldn't stop himself from grinning. This only made it easier for Roxas to say something to the red head later…

* * *

"Well… that sure was a lovely, non talkative date." Leon growled, carrying Cloud onto his shoulder to his door. Originally, Leon had planned for their night to be so much more romantic. But Mr. No-talk suddenly fell silent, not even yelping when Leon stabbed his heels into his toes.

Cloud loosely hung from his shoulder, one arm swaying as the older brunette walked and the other cradling his chin onto the broad shoulder.

Leon set him down, a clear scowl on his face. Cloud crossed his arms, intimidated by the brunette's height once more. "Do I at least get a good night kiss?"

Cloud smirked, grabbing onto the sides of Leon's face to pull him down. He wouldn't get a good bye, but he at least deserved something for treating Cloud to an expensive dinner –Cloud made sure to order everything to run Leon dry-.

Leon's face lit up, an actual genuine smile coming onto his face. Their noses bumped…and Leon closed his eyes to cherish the moment…

Before Cloud struck his forehead into Leon's, causing them both searing pain. Cloud ignored the pain. He narrowed his sapphire eyes, gripping the door handle. Leon grunted as he took a step backwards, nearly falling off the porch.

"Fuck. You." Cloud snarled through clenched teeth, swinging the door open and storming in. Leon jumped as the house shook when the door slammed.

Shrugging, he walked off the porch, hands stuffed deep into his black jacket. So maybe he deserved that for going over board with the kidnapping thing…

"I'll just go at him with a gentler approach." Leon grumbled, walking off to his house in the Twilight setted sky.

* * *

When Roxas woke up the next morning, he found himself ripping off his shirt as he ran to the heating system. In a quick punch, it turned off. Sweating and panting, he shook his head. Who the hell had turned his system up that high? Were they trying to burn him up?

"Damn it Axel…" Roxas growled, trying to fan himself out. How could anyone survive in that kind of temperature!

* * *

I didn't like this chapter that much, but at least I updated. I couldn't make it to Hayner in time… sorry, jealous Axel folks.

EDIT NOTE: I didn't edit this because I ran out of time again. Don't waste your time complaining about the editing, because that also would have meant another couple of days to a week of updating. And you want to read as soon as possible, right?

QUESTION: Should Zexion and Demyx appear in it sometime? Not like major characters, just a one time thing…

Please review if you want me to continue. Now excuse me, I'm going to go check my e-mail and get back to everyone hopefully…


	7. I'm not Jealous

Ugh… sorry everyone. Haven't really had times to update. I haven't even really been living at home lately; my friend's parents are nearly adopting me at how much time I spend at their house. No, I'm not fighting with my family. My friend just wants to hang out everyday… literally. So I haven't really been to the computer in a while. So please forgive me… and if I haven't gotten to you, it's because my PM thing is so messed up right now. If you want to privately talk to me, my e-mail is: reason why I haven't updated is because someone people are posting my story in a few places and I don't like that. Just let me know and give me credit. This is my first actual experience with people taking the story… but _just don't._ If you post it in a live journal, okay. I think someone did, and then gave me credit. Thank you, but next time please let me know. Just ask. I won't say no, I'd just like to know.

I've missed a lot of you. Amanda, Tihmm, the others… yeah. Please don't hate me…

And I've been working on separate stories. But thank you everyone who have continued to write reviews. 190! Whoot! And we're only on Chapter 7!

As for Zexion and Demyx, they will appear eventually. But it won't be big. Just minor characters.

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN: I'm not jealous

* * *

Sora had never, ever seen Cloud this irritated, much less this angry looking. He sat at the table, watching his older brother stab at the sausages he had made. Now, Sora realized Cloud didn't eat much. But for Cloud to just sit and stab pointlessly at his food brought curiosity up inside Sora. Had his date really gone that horrible?

"Cloud?" Sora asked. Those lethal blue eyes seemed to send him a warning glare. Immediately, Sora closed his mouth and went back to eating. There was no point asking about the date.

"I just got a call from Tifa a few hours ago." Sora felt his stomach give out right there and then. Tifa… had called?

Sora liked Tifa. But she was Kairi's older cousin, so to hear that she had called meant Kairi had wanted to talk to him… which didn't make Sora feel much better. He thought that by moving away that he would have been able to get away from the red head. It wasn't that he hated her, she was just… persistent? Was that the right word for her?

"And…?" Sora asked, beginning to swallow a piece of the meat on his plate. Cloud lowered his gaze, not wanting to spot Sora's reaction.

"Kairi took a boat. She's coming over here in a few days." Sora choked on his food. What! Kairi was now chasing him into the city! With a few chugs of milk, Sora managed to just barely swallow the piece of meat.

"What!" Sora demanded, leaping out of his chair. That was too sudden… Had Tifa told her no? Maybe Kairi was brining a papou fruit… that meant trouble… Maybe Sora would be able to get Axel to scare her off. _"I'll just say Kairi thinks Roxas is cute. Then Axel will chase her away…"_

"Don't screw around with her. Tifa will come to Twilight Town if anything happens to Kairi. You force the burden on me and I swear to god Sora…" Cloud didn't need to finish his sentence. As if an example, he chopped his fork through a piece of meat viciously. He had a good tendency of always letting his victims imagine what would happen to them.

Sora knew Cloud cared for Tifa. They were like brother and sister at the islands. But the whole island knew she had a temper when others messed with her family. Last time Sora had made Kairi cry – he didn't accept her papou fruit- Cloud had to suffer the torture from Tifa. Oh, how Sora tried so hard not to smile at the memory. Tifa had chased Clouds for hours, and then tackled him in the ocean. Being as strong as an Amazon, Tifa had broken Cloud's arm while wrestling with him.

Cloud didn't let anyone sign his cast. He simply wrote in sharpie 'Once I am out of this cast, I will kill Sora'. And every time Sora saw that cast, he flinched.

"Whatever…" Sora didn't notice the time being noon. All he did was begin to storm out of the house. Sometimes he wished he was born in Twilight Town, and not Destiny Island. After all, as much as Kairi was a good friend, he just couldn't _be_ with her _like that_.

Through his fury, Sora completely stomped outside and past an ever familiar silver haired teen.

"Hey Sora." Riku whispered, walking onto Sora's porch. Sora ignored him. Instead, he smirked to see Axel sitting on Roxas' porch, waiting patiently for Roxas to wake up and come out. What perfect timing! "Sora?" Riku stopped following Sora when he noted Axel sending him a glare. It was that glare that kept Riku more then 50 feet from Roxas' house. Great, Sora was ditching their 'date' to hang out with his over protective friends…

"Axel! I've got a favor for you!" Axel's green eyes twinkled. A favor always came with something return. No, he wasn't a free person. There always had to be something in it for him when favors had to be done. "If I said there was a girl who thought Roxas was cute… what would you do?"

Sora knew the answer before Axel said it. How did he know? Well, Axel's upper lip curved slightly as a growl emitted from his throat. Hayner wasn't that bad because he was a guy. But _no girl_ could have his Roxas.

"I'd kick her ass. No girl gets-"Axel froze when the door slammed open and hit his side so hard that the poor red head rolled right off the porch and into the bushes. Sora's eyes widened to see his new best friend.

Roxas stood, eyes narrowed from lack of sleep. He was still wearing his usual giant white T-shirt and boxers… but he was so angry that he couldn't care. "Go home. I'm tired."

"But Roxas!" The bush cried. Wide eyed, both boys turned to stare at it. Axel's head popped out. All anger that was there for the thought of a girl clinging to the dirty blonde seemed to have vanished visibly because now he was just holding the cutest puppy look had ever seen. "I thought we were going to go to that creepy mansion today and set it on fire-"

"I never said we set it on fire!" Roxas barked, sounding almost as mad as another spiky haired blonde Sora knew. Sighing, Roxas closed the door and took a seat on the porch. "And anyway, Hayner invited me over to the secret spot today…"

Sora could feel the fire burning from the bush from here. No, the bush wasn't really on fire. But Axel looked ready to burn anything. His green eyes suddenly darkened a few shades, his black gloved hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

_"He's… jealous?"_ Sora thought. A sudden hand gripped his shoulder.

Poor Sora didn't even have time to react. He was lifted onto someone's shoulder, their muscled shoulder cushioning his stomach. And yet, this position was so familiar because he could just picture Leon snatching up Cloud and giving that evil smirk to him.

The ground began rocking under them… and Sora gasped to see whoever was carrying him turns their back to Roxas and Axel. That usual jealous scowl crossed Roxas' face and Axel seemed to take Roxas' side within a second flat. And yet, at the same time a light bulb seemed to spark itself into gear over Axel's head. What a great idea! Kidnap Roxas away from Hayner!

"Put me down, Riku!" Sora begged, digging his hands into Riku's sturdy back. But the silver haired teen was mad enough that Sora had just breezed past him without a word. If he couldn't hang out with Sora, neither could they.

For the first couple of silent minutes – well, excluding Sora's cries for someone to help him down- Riku didn't make a word. But even you wouldn't be able to stand hearing someone yelling for help in your ear for a full 2 minutes…

"Calm down." Riku growled. Of course, Sora did calm down. He had a nasty habit of calming down when someone told him to. Even Kairi had complete control over him. "Our promise… forget it?"

Yes, Sora had forgotten it. But the second he realized the time – the clock seemed to stand over the rest of the buildings, trying to help him remember- and why Riku seemed so upset made him realize. "Oh! Your secret place!"

"_Yes_. _Our_ secret place soon." Riku whispered. Now Sora just limply hung there, resting his cheek in one hand and the other swaying off Riku's back. What sort of place was this? Maybe it was just a boring little hill in the sunset… or a hidden room at the train station…

Sora's thoughts on the train station were confirmed when Riku stepped into the train station. But what would they do in a private room…?

Riku frowned when Sora's face lit up almost as red as Axel's hair. But the train ticket man's voice decided to ruin his own train of thought. "Two tickets to Sunset Station."

Sora had never ventured anywhere else besides the usual Axel and Roxas places since he had moved to Twilight Town. Whatever came next would be a surprise…

* * *

And it was. Sora's eyes widened as he stared at the little part of town, filled with many bare streets and stairways with blue water rushing down them. How odd it was to see blue in the little orange town…

"Whoa…" Sora stepped out of the train, eyes wide with delight as he stared at the many areas to explore. But there were people there, meaning this wasn't just Riku's own little place. And yet, Sora wouldn't have doubted that he was 'king' or the other kids here as well.

"Let's go." Riku commanded, stepping down the orange cobble stone stairway toward the streets. Sora did the same, his grin becoming bigger and bigger with each step. As he leapt off the first stairway, he turned… and frowned. Maybe it was just him, or had the staircases changed? Like, there were more then the ones he had jumped down from? "Don't pull a Rajin. Come on."

* * *

"Ah… cheer up Roxas. You can't have control over all your friends." Axel whispered. The two were outside his house, Roxas sitting on the porch while Axel was seated a step in front of him. In his black gloved hand was a sea salt popsicle, Roxas' favorite.

Even now, Roxas was forming a hard line with his lips, refusing to even nibble on his favorite treat. And Axel's patience was becoming thinner and thinner because he couldn't stand holding something so cold for so long.

"He's only doing-"Roxas growled before the popsicle was shoved into his mouth. In an instant, he pulled it out so he wouldn't have bitten into the cold ice cream. Axel chuckled, sipping his hot chocolate like a satisfied devil. Sighing, Roxas shook his head. "Riku's only doing this because he knows he's _my_ friend."

The next few moments were in silence as Roxas began to eat the ice cream. It had been torture to ignore it any longer. Axel was devising everything in his head, wondering if Riku really was aiming for that. It was a strong possibility, since he had taken their last friend. The only reason Hayner and Roxas were best friends was because they both hated Riku and Seifer with a passion stronger then anything else.

Or maybe that was just Axel's wishful thinking.

"Seifer would know. He has a habit of blurting out all of Riku's evil plans…" Axel chuckled. As soon as he finished the last word with a smile, he regretted it. Speaking of dumb friends who blurted out good plans…

"That's a great idea." Roxas suddenly hissed. Axel looked over his shoulder frightfully, knowing he had told Roxas the _wrong_ information. "We find Seifer and taunt him. Then he'll say Riku's plan and we stop it and save Sora before it happens!" Roxas cheered, his blue eyes glowing brighter then the sea salt ice cream.

Looking to the ground in front of him, Axel shook his head with a sigh. Every time Roxas went even near Seifer, it would start a fight. Not that Axel didn't want to be a hero and rescue Roxas, but he didn't want him hurt either…

* * *

"It's too dark."

"Just go in."

"No." Sora said sternly. Riku turned to glare at him, standing outside the Tunnel way. "I… don't like dark places…" It was true. Sora wasn't scared of the dark, he just remember that a dog had once gone after him in 'Kairi and his secret place' where it was dark. And though by now he was Riku's friend, he also wasn't completely trustworthy. "If something attacks me, I won't be able to fight back…"

One of Riku's gloved hands shot out and took Sora's hands. "Come on. I'll kill anything that attacks us." Sora didn't doubt that either.

Very few lights were lit up in the daytime down here. But the deeper they went, the bright it seemed to go. And it was… an actual light. Not the orange light that gave Sora irritation. Twilight was pretty, but he missed his island sun and the starry evening.

"No one goes down this tunnel way because it's too dark for them. I do… because it's the only place I can really be alone. So don't go around telling people about this place, because it's the only place I can be alone." Riku whispered. Sora understood what he meant and his selfishness. He had once tried his best to be away from his friends and Kairi. But when he found his secret place, Kairi and Selphie had followed him and had claimed it 'their' secret place.

"I won't. I used to have my own secret place…" Sora compared.

"Did your girlfriend follow you?" Riku chuckled, giving Sora his usual wicked smirk. For some reason, Riku hated saying those words every time. The more he called that girl Sora's girlfriend, the more irritated he got with her. Heck, he didn't even know her and he was all ready hating her.

"Don't bring her up…" Sora groaned. This was his one chance to have fun and enjoy his real friends before Kairi came. He was awkward around girls… and it would be awkward to try and do boy things for once with her calling him to hang out with her.

"Something wrong?" Riku asked. Through the faint light, Sora noted Riku's silver eyebrows furrowing at sensing the tension in Sora's voice.

"She's coming down to visit…" Sora sighed, stopping their walk. Maybe the light was too faint, but Sora could have sworn he saw Riku's jaw line tighten in anger. "And I don't want her to. I really, really don't… because then I'm gonna not be able to hang out with Roxas, who's pissed with me as is, and then-"

"You don't want her to come?" Riku interjected. The faint light showed clear surprise on his face, the ends of his mouth even threatening to tug into a smirk. Sora nodded, closing his eyes tightly to hold back any frustrated sounds. If they had been opened, he would have seen Riku smirking proudly.

_He was going to make sure Kairi had one hell of a stay in his Twilight Town._

* * *

__

Seifer had never been so surprised in his life to see Axel and Roxas simply walking into his sandlot, that usual angry pout in place. Though it was his rival, Seifer hated to admit it… but he found Roxas adorable. Maybe that's why he hated him so much…

"Well… if it isn't the lamer and his bodyguard!" Seifer taunted, strolling toward Roxas. Roxas stopped his walk, Axel towering over him menacingly. But Roxas just smirked almost as devious as Riku would have. After all, he was going to play hero and rescue his best friend. "What? Here to steal another one of us, lamer?"

Roxas' face fell instantly. "What?"

"Thief." Fujin growled. Axel grinned at her, resting a single massive black gloved hand on Roxas' right shoulder. The other now had a chakra spinning it, waiting for the order to ruin her beauty.

"It's bad enough you stole Riku from us, ya know?" Rajin sighed. Now Roxas was finally getting it… and he felt horrible. Riku was neglecting them too? Did that mean that Riku actually just wanted to be Sora's friend?

"No… you guys are secretly plotting to have Riku steal Sora way… right?" Roxas asked. After all, it was their usual plan to make Riku steal Roxas' friends.

"No… you lamers are secretly plotting to have Sora steal Riku away… right?" Seifer asked. After all, it was a good plan of revenge to have their own thief be stolen.

For moments, Roxas and Seifer just gaped at each other. Neither of them knew what the plan was! Then what was Sora's plan and Riku's plan?

"No." Roxas hissed, shaking his head. He refused to believe the Riku was actually being nice and trying to be Sora's friend. "We have to stop this." If Riku and Sora became good friends, that would force the Sandlot gang, Roxas and even Axel to be… _nice_ to each other… "We have to stop this now."

"Help." Fujin commanded.

"We could… help each other ya know? Like, we could try to split them up, ya know?" Rajin suggested with a shrug. Only Axel appeared to be thinking. If they got along by trying to split the two boys up, why was it so bad if they had to get along because they were together?

"Um… Roxas, please think straight…" Axel hissed, ducking low to Roxas' ear. But Roxas couldn't think straight. So he would have to get along with Seifer for… what, a couple of hours? Beats having to spend days with him!

"Fine. But do anything to my friend and Axel will kill you." Roxas stated. Axel smacked a glove to his face, making a frustrated groan. Now Roxas was depending on him to help him kick their butts if Sora got hurt? How could he say no…

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Sorry for the delay. There will be… a kiss scene between a certain couple in the next chapter along with lots of Riku jealousy and Sora cuteness. It's not the best chapter, I know. But next one will be. And it won't take me forever like it did for this one. At latest, it should be here before November. It's just school is also starting… 


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